Mustangs trample Leopards
The Laurel Highlands defense didn’t need much help from the weather to stuff another opponent, but the rain help anyway in a 15-0 win over visiting Belle Vernon. The shutout followed a 30-6 win over Derry, so in the last 10 quarters the Mustangs have allowed only six points.
The win put Laurel Highlands at 2-0 in the Keystone Conference and 2-2 overall.
Defense, rain and Belle Vernon turnovers were the ticket last night.
“Winning ugly is sure better than losing when you play delightfully,” said LH coach Jack Buehner. “Anyway I’ll take it because we won ugly. We didn’t play pretty, but you’ve got to take it and you’ve got to be happy about it because we hadn’t beat Belle Vernon for three years. To get off that snide, and to come out here in these conditions, I’ll take it.”
It’s unlikely any football team could’ve played “delightfully” last night. The thunder and lightning began around 7:20 p.m. and the rain began five minutes later. At 7:35 p.m., the rain came down heavier as lightning flashed wildly. The conditions remained that way for a half hour before stopping at 8:15 p.m. The players plodded through the muddy morass thereafter.
“My trainer at one point came up and said ‘Coach it’s lightning and you’re going to have to do something,'” Buehner said. “I said that’s not my call and she apologized. I was so focused on the game. I’d seen a blink but I didn’t see a whole lot more.”
The conditions forced LH to tone down its passing attack, but quarterback Jared Jodon found a way to complete 7 of 15 passes for 100 yards without an interception. In all, Laurel Highlands turned the ball over only once. Belle Vernon fumbled six times and lost two of them. Two quarterbacks for the Leopards threw three interceptions, all pulled in by junior cornerback Randy Rankin.
Last week, Rankin came off the bench to rush for 101 yards on 11 carries. Last night, Rankin intercepted passes in the second, third and fourth quarters. The final interception was tipped by teammate Rich Kolesar.
While Rankin has enjoyed plenty of success these last eight days, he wasn’t too excited by the individual accomplishments.
“We got the win,” he said. “That’s all we tried to do.”
Jodon scored the Mustangs’ first touchdown. He also set it up with a coffin-corner punt that pinned BV at its own 2-yard line. After the BV drive stalled, the punt snap was fumbled to put LH in scoring position at the BV 16. On the next play, Jodon took a shotgun snap and ran around left end 16 yards for the score. He turned the corner with the help of a crunching block by wide receiver Dan Pegg.
Jim Fields recovered a BV fumble to set up the second LH touchdown. Again, the Mustangs scored one play after the turnover. Jodon hit Gregg Forse with a 47-yard strike for the score, but the conversion attempt failed and the Mustangs led by only 12-0 at halftime.
BV changed quarterbacks after Nick Keefer fumbled to start the third quarter. LH’s Vic Fiano kicked a 24-yard field goal for a 15-0 lead, and new BV quarterback Brian Layhue couldn’t connect on any of his 11 passes. He did find Rankin twice, and the interceptions helped LH grounded the game on the muddy field.
BV coach Jesse Cramer was asked if the weather conditions hurt his team.
“Not so much,” he said. “The mistakes took us out of it more than anything else. I like to run the ball. The rain really didn’t hinder us in that respect. We just didn’t execute.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do. When you’re 0-2 in the conference and you don’t have a win on the season, that’s hard to overcome. Winning and losing are a lot alike; they both become habits. That’s something we have to overcome.”
Winning is becoming a habit at LH. Buehner has the team on a roll, and right now it’s doing it with defense.
“It’s coming together,” said defensive coordinator Chris Edenfield. “The kids are hungry, that’s it. There are still too many mental mistakes, but they’re getting better each week.”
They forced five turnovers and the Mustangs only committed one. Is there a secret to holding onto the ball in a thunderstorm?
“There isn’t,” Buener said. “I’ve been around this game and it’s all about funny bounces. You never know when you’re going to get them. We do work on ballhandling, and it’s something we stress; if they drop the ball they have to run that hill over there. But my guys are a great group of guys. They’ve bought into the system and they’re a joy to be around, but we still have some work to do.”