Leopards stun Jaguars in battle of unbeatens
Darnell Graham
Belle Vernon running back Mason Pascoe (21) leaves a trio of Thomas Jefferson players in his wake on a long run during Friday night’s game at Belle Vernon. The Leopards defeated the Jaguars, 21-17, to take over sole possession of first place in the Big Nine Conference.
Darnell Graham
Belle Vernon’s Derek Thomas (14) makes a flying tackle on Thomas Jefferson’s Gerret Fairman (12) during their Big Nine Conference showdown at James Weir Stadium earlier this season. The Leopards defeated the Jaguars, 21-17. Tonight, the two teams will meet again.
Belle Vernon's Logan Pfrogner (23) manages runs through the tackle by Thomas Jefferson's Daniel Deabner (11) during Friday's Big Nine Conference game at John Weir Stadium.
Belle Vernon's Jared Hartman (12) turns the corner after he avoids Thomas Jefferson's Sean Bell during Friday's Big Nine Conference game at John Weir Stadium.
ROSTRAVER TWP. — The two undefeated powerhouses in the Big Nine Conference clashed Friday night with the Belle Vernon Leopards sitting on top of the mountain after a 21-17 win over the visiting Thomas Jefferson Jaguars.
The Jaguars humiliated the Leopards exactly one year ago with a crushing 55-0 defeat, and after the game, Belle Vernon head coach Matt Humbert spoke about last season’s game and how it impacted the team going into the night’s contest.
“They are a storied franchise, and you can’t have a mistake-laden game against a team like that,” said Humbert. “Our kids had a bad taste in their mouths from last year, and they embarrassed us, which kind of deflated our season.”
Humbert recalled his message to the players this week at practice, saying, “We came into this game with no pressure because they’re the team that is at the top and the only team that can go down.
“The mindset was there, the vision was there, and the belief was there, and I told them to remember how that feeling was last year when they (Thomas Jefferson) dumped all of those points on us like they did. So the kids bought into everything I told them about being strong and having fun, and I think they were really able to ride that momentum to a victory tonight.”
Belle Vernon quarterback Jared Hartman also had some thoughts on last year’s game and how it impacted Friday night’s showdown, adding, “Last year we went to their place, lost 55-0, and embarrassed us, and now we come home and beat them. We came into tonight’s game with an attitude that we weren’t losing, and we didn’t.”
Belle Vernon (7-0, 7-0) put the first points on the board with a beautiful 52-yard run by Mason Pascoe to make it 7-0 in the first, and the drive was made possible thanks to Anthony Bertram’s interception.
Thomas Jefferson (6-1, 5-1) struggled to maintain possession of the ball throughout the entire game, turning the ball over four times with two interceptions and two fumbles.
Despite the Leopard’s strong defense, A.J. Meshanko’s 27-yard field goal was able to finally put Thomas Jefferson on the board in the second quarter to make it 7-3 with 10:02 left in the half.
Belle Vernon quickly responded when Hartman connected with Derek Thomas for a 13-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-3, a one-play drive that was made possible thanks to a fumble recovery on the Jaguars’ 13-yard line by Logan Petrosky.
“Two of those turnovers we scored on, so that was huge,” said Humbert. “We’ve done a good job this year with takeaways, but the problem is we haven’t had much success turning them into points during the first five games and tonight we did on the first two turnovers, which was good.”
However, the Jaguars weren’t going into the half without a fight.
TJ’s offense engineered a beautiful 80-yard drive that ended when Shane Stump connected with Nick Urbanowicz for an 8-yard touchdown pass to make it a 14-10 nail-biter at halftime.
The Jaguars were able to feed off the momentum they built before halftime and scored on the opening drive of the second half with Stump’s one-yard keeper to give TJ a 17-14 advantage, but the lead wouldn’t last too long.
The Leopards regained the lead when Hartman connected with Hunter Ruokonen for a 46-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-17, and it was all Belle Vernon needed for the win with both teams being held scoreless for the rest of the game.
Pascoe rushed 16 times for 93 yards to lead the Leopards, and Hartman completed four of seven pass for 87 yards. Larry Callaway had an interception and Andrew Pacak recovered a fumble for Belle Vernon.
Stump completed 15 of 33 passes for 173 yards. Jaguar running back Justin Vigna ran 23 times for 138 yards.
Despite the loss, the Jaguars managed to produce a solid defensive game, sacking Hartman seven times and giving up only 21 points to an otherwise explosive offense.
Disappointed after the loss, TJ head coach Bill Cherpak said, “Belle Vernon made the plays that they needed to make to beat us, and we made a lot of mistakes with costly turnovers.
“In a game like this, you can’t give up easy scores or give them field position on our 10-yard line. You can’t even commit personal foul penalties, so it seemed like any time we gained momentum we took it away from ourselves.”
Looking ahead, both teams are scheduled for conference games on the road Friday with Thomas Jefferson traveling to Laurel Highlands (4-4, 2-4), and Belle Vernon heading to West Mifflin (5-2, 4-2).
Before the game, Belle Vernon celebrated Senior Night and among the football players honored were Derek Cesovski, Thomas, Logan Pfrogner, Dom Dongilli, Brandon Roche, Lewis Stilner, Dylan Haney, Petrosky, Justin Erkroate, Blake Zubovic, Ken Shemish, and Chris McCullough.
Big Nine Conference
Thomas Jefferson 0-10-7-0 — 17
Belle Vernon 7-7-7-0 — 21
First Quarter
BV: Mason Pascoe 52 run (Cameron Guess kick)
Second Quarter
TJ: A.J. Meshanko 27 FG
BV: Derek Thomas 13 pass from Jared Hartman (Guess kick)
TJ: Nick Urbanowicz 8 pass from Shane Stump (Meshanko kick)
Third Quarter
TJ: Stump 1 run (Meshanko kick)
BV: Hunter Ruokonen 46 pass from Hartman (Guess kick)
Records: Thomas Jefferson (5-1, 6-1), Belle Vernon (7-0, 7-0).