WPIAL
Quinton Martin, Belle Vernon Run Past East Allegheny, 49-8
NORTH HUNTINGTON, Pa. — Belle Vernon ran past East Allegheny, 49-8, in the WPIAL 3A semifinals at Norwin High School to return to the WPIAL 3A Championship for the second consecutive season. They will face Avonworth, who defeated Elizabeth Forward 21-10 tonight, in a rematch of the 2022 WPIAL title game, which the Leopards won 24-7.
The game started off strong for Belle Vernon, who used a strong rushing attack behind 2024 four-star Penn State commit Quinton Martin to score the game’s first touchdown. On the first drive, Belle Vernon only attempted a single pass, which fell incomplete, and ran the ball 10 times. Eight of those rushes went the way of Martin, who had 76 rushing yards on the drive including the four-yard touchdown score.
East Allegheny’s first offensive drive ended on a failed fourth down conversion from the Belle Vernon 12-yard line. The Leopards took over and proceeded to quickly drive down the field for the game’s second score, a 16-yard run by Kole Doppelheuer. Martin, on that drive, broke off a 35-yard run that led him to eclipse the century mark in rushing yards at 111 in just the first quarter.
A few drives later, the Leopards extended their lead to three scores. The drive started on a 37-yard punt return by Doppelheuer that set Belle Vernon up in the red zone. However, a loss of three on the next play, followed by a personal foul penalty, made it second-and-28 for Belle Vernon. The second down run made it third-and-w1 when Jake Gedekoh ran for 34 yards to set Belle Vernon up near the goal line. A tush push play capped the drive off for the score, and Belle Vernon led 20-0.
After East Allegheny failed to convert on a fourth and 10 fake punt attempt from midfield, the Leopards scored the first half’s last score to go up by four scores. This drive followed the theme of the previous BVA touchdown drive, as it followed Gedekoh. Gedekoh broke off a 40-yard run to start the drive off and capped it with a 12-yaed run for a touchdown. At halftime, both Martin and Gedekoh had already eclipsed the 100-yard mark with Martin at 143 yards and Gedekoh at 120.
After a fourth-down stop, Belle Vernon scored the first touchdown of the second half to mercy rule East Allegheny. After runs by Doppleheuer, Gedekoh, and Martin set Belle Vernon up at the 15-yard line. While there, quarterback Braden Laux found fellow D-1 recruit Martin for the 15-yard touchdown. Martin ran it in on the two-point conversion, and the Loepards mercy-ruled East Allegheny just a few minutes into the third quarter.
The Leopards got two more touchdowns on runs behind Doppelheuer and Deaubre Lightfoot while East Allegheny found the end zone on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Micheal Cahill to Brennan Rutledge. Those were the final scores of the game as Belle Vernon won 49-8. BVA now returns to the WPIAL Class-3A Championship to face Avonworth. That game will be played at 5 p.m. next Friday at Acrisure Stadium.1
