Win earns Leps berth in WPIAL playoffs
CARROLL TWP. – Belle Vernon beat Ringgold, 19-0, for its third consecutive win, third consecutive shutout, and a home game in next week’s first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs. But perhaps best of all, the win completed a turnaround that saw Lou Rood lead the Leopards from a winless season to 5-4, 4-2 Keystone Conference runners-up in one year.
“We will host a playoff game,” said a thrilled Rood. “Considering the program was 0 and 10 last year and we only scored 35 points, I think short of winning it, which we had our opportunities to do, this is a great turnaround for the program and for the kids and everybody who suffered through that 0 and 10 year last year. This is just a great thing for them.”
Belle Vernon came into the game with a plan built around the right arm of quarterback Jake Cramer, but an all-game rainstorm favored a running attack and Shane Curran responded with 186 yards on 26 carries.
Curran scored the game’s first touchdown on an eight-yard run in the second quarter. He piled up 146 yards on 13 first-half carries as Belle Vernon took a 7-0 lead into the break.
“Shane was a powerhouse running that thing,” Rood said. “(Fullback Jon) Krepps had some great blocks. The offensive line did a great job blocking, and Brian Layhue and Bryan Levi, the tight ends, did the job. The offensive line did a fantastic job. We were able to control the ball and dominate.”
Belle Vernon didn’t score again until the fourth quarter when Cramer ran 32 yards for a touchdown on fourth-and-two. He ran left with blockers, but the play wasn’t a quarterback sweep or even an option.
“It was our flood pass and we just told Jake to keep it,” Rood said. “We used the same play for our next touchdown, but we ran it out of different formations each time. We kept them off balance all night.”
Cramer scored from two yards out for the third touchdown.
Ringgold came back with its deepest threat, but Belle Vernon was determined to keep its shutout streak intact and, after Ringgold reached the four-yard line, Josh Horrell intercepted a Ringgold fade pass in the end zone with less than 30 seconds remaining.
Defensive coordinator Joe Kroskie and assistant George Stevenson got the credit from Rood.
“They put together a game plan to take away Kyle Fisher-Lyle,” Rood said of the Ringgold tailback.
“We felt we had, number one, a good defensive plan, but we felt, number two, if we could control the football we could keep Fisher-Law away from the football and keep him frustrated. And he got frustrated a little bit and we were able to keep him out of the game.”
Fisher-Law finished the game with 30 yards on 10 carries. As a team, playoff-bound Ringgold (3-6, 3-3) gained only 95 yards of offense compared to Belle Vernon’s 306.
“The kids are starting to understand,” Rood said. “We said when we got the program we wanted to take it back to the nineties. And it’s late in the season now. Our goal was to get better each week and peak at the end of the year. I think that’s where we are right now. We have steadily improved every week and the kids understand what we want to do and how we want to do it. That’s getting us headed in the direction we want to go. I’m very pleased with the way things have progressed to this point.”