TJ snaps Belle Vernon’s win streak at 14
BELLE VERNON – Belle Vernon, the top-ranked Class 3A team in the state, saw its hopes of an undefeated season come to a heartbreaking end Friday night as it dropped a hard-fought game to arch-rival, Thomas Jefferson, 24-19.
“The margin of error is extremely thin in games like this,” BV coach Matt Humbert said. “We were in good position coming out in the third.
“We were never in a position where our backs were against the wall. It came down to plays. We just didn’t make the big plays we needed to.”
Trailing 12-0 after one quarter, Thomas Jefferson (4-0) slowly took over the game and took its only lead with 3:06 to play when Luke Kosko hit Jason Salman with a 49-yard touchdown pass to earn the win.
The loss ended Belle Vernon’s school-record 14-game winning streak that dated back more than a year to Sept. 16, 2022.
The Leopards were limited to 54 yards in the second half and were outgained for the game, 396-261 as TJ ran 71 played to BV’s 50.
Belle Vernon (2-1) scored on its first drive and was in control of the game until midway through the second quarter.
The Leps took the opening kickoff and went 60 yards on nine plays. Anthony Cruz made an acrobatic one-handed catch on a 13-yard scoring strike from Braden Laux and the Leps held a 6-0 lead with 8:26 to go in the first quarter.
BV held the six-point lead until late in the first when TJ punted the ball and the Leps took over at their own seven-yard line.
On second and 10, Kole Doppelheuer raced 93 yards to give BV a 12-0 lead with 58 seconds left in the quarter.
TJ, which has played a two-quarterback platoon thus far with Brody Evans and Kosko, went with Evans in the first quarter but turned to Kosko in the second.
On Kosko’s second drive of the second quarter, TJ drove down to the BV 9 and Sam Wessell made a 27-yard field goal to trim the BV lead to 12-3.
After forcing a BV three-and-out, the Jaguars turned back to Evans and the senior drove them to the BV 5. Michael Banda scored on the next play and Wessell added the extra point to trim the BV lead to 12-10 with 3:24 to go in the half.
After a BV punt, TJ took over and moved the ball near midfield.
However, a fumbled snap was recovered by BV’s Tanner Moody with 29 seconds to go in the half. Moody also had an interception.
Two plays later, Laux hit Doppelheuer with a 29-yard pass to the TJ 20, and on the next play, Laux hit Quinton Martin on a 20-yard touchdown to give the Leps a 19-10 lead at the half.
The 19-10 score held into the fourth when TJ’s Elias Lippencott scored from one yard, and Wessell’s extra point made the score 19-17 with 6:33 left.
The Jaguars then recovered a fumbled punt attempt by Willie Schwerha near midfield and Kosko hit Salman with the game-winner.
Kosko completed 10 of his 18 passes for 195 yards while Evans completed eight of 14 for 129 yards.
“They were able to throw the ball very effectively and they were able to get the matchups they wanted,” Humbert said of TJ. “At the end of the day, we had big stops but didn’t capitalize.”
Salman finished with five catches for 166 yards.
Belle Vernon ended the game with three turnovers, which proved costly.