Sep 6, 2008 3 min read

Case in point, Friday night’s Triple-A contest between Belle Vernon and Southmoreland. The Leopards only ran 26 plays on offense, compared to 60 for the Scotties, yet still managed to come away with a convincing 49-17 win in their home opener.

The Leopards had five touchdown runs of 30 yards or longer, while also getting a 95-yard kickoff return from sophomore Matt Green, and a 10-yard fumble return by Brian DeLeonibus. Green also finished the night with three carries for 79 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown.

“Speed kills,” said Belle Vernon coach Lou Rood. “We have backs that can flat out run. We try to get our skill people out into space and let them make plays.”

Among those playmaking backs is 5-10 junior Cory Williams, who finished the night with 158 yards rushing and two touchdowns on only five carries.

“We always knew Cory had the skill to be one of the best backs to ever come out of here,” said Rood. “It was always just a matter of getting him some experience.”

For Southmoreland, it was the second week in a row it struggled defensively giving up big play after big play.

“We just have to start digging deeper,” coach Brian Pritts said following the game. “We’re just giving up too many big plays and I think we need to start playing a little harder and showing a little more effort at times.”

The Scotties were able to move the ball on the ground much of the night, and even had a pair of 100-yard games from Aaron Stasko and Michael Stokes, but costly turnovers and mistakes, as well as a quick-strike Belle Vernon offense, squashed any momentum that may have been built by an effective ground game.

“We’ve got to learn how to finish,” Pritts said. “And that again goes back to digging deeper. We’re a tough group, and we’ll bounce back and we just have to regroup for next Friday against Ringgold.”

Stasko finished the game with 101 yards on 20 carries, while Stokes led the Scotties with 142 yards on 16 carries.

“We still have a lot of work to do on our tackling,” said Rood. “For as good as our offense was tonight our defense struggled just as much. We’ve spent a lot of time this year working on our tackling but it didn’t show up tonight, and there’s still some work to do there.

“Offensively, these kids don’t believe there’s a defense out there that can stop them, but defensively they’re wondering if there’s an offense they can stop.”

Belle Vernon opens section play next Friday, at home, against Chartiers-Valley.

Scoring summary:

Southmoreland 0 10 7 0 – 17

Belle Vernon 14 14 14 7 – 49

BV – Cory Williams 80 run (Adam Gillingham kick)

BV – Brian DeLeonibus 10 fumble return (Gillingham Kick)

S – Jeremy Hixson 34 Field Goal

BV – Matt Green 95 Kickoff Return (Gillingham Kick)

S – Stasko 4 run (Hixson kick)

BV – Williams 65 run (Gillingham kick)

S – Stasko 5 run (Hixson Kick)

BV – Green 68 run (Gillingham kick)

BV – Cody Williams 36 run (Kick blocked)

BV – Jake Cramer 51 run (Cramer run)