Martin scores 5 TDs as Leopards trounce Vikings
Quinton Martin scored five touchdowns as Belle Vernon cruised past visiting Mount Pleasant 55-7 in an Interstate Conference football game Friday night.
Martin had touchdown runs of 6, 21 and 2 yards, caught a 31-yard TD pass from Braden Laux and returned an interception 79 yards for a score for the Leopards (3-0, 5-2) who remained tied with Elizabeth Forward for first place.
Belle Vernon also got touchdown runs of 1 and 17 yards from Jake Gedekoh and 30 yards from Laux. Willie Schwerha converted seven of eight extra-point attempts.
Alonzo Wade led the Leopards with six tackles and Jackson Jewell had five tackles and a fumble recovery.
“I felt it was a good team win,” Leopards coach Matt Humbert said. “There were contributions in the kick game, we had some turnovers that we capitalized on, and the defense was stout when it needed to be stout. I thought our secondary played well.”
Martin had 61 rushing yards and 67 receiving yards along with two interceptions. Laux completed four of 10 passes for 72 yards although Humbert felt the potential was there for a few more big plays.
“We had the matchups, we had the cover-zero beaters that we wanted and just for some reason we couldn’t connect,” Humbert said. “But we stuck with it and the nice thing is we were able to hit that one to Quinton so we got our six off of it.
“It was good for us just to put ourselves in that position because we typically don’t drop back and sling the ball all over the yard. I just think it’s a matter of us clicking a little bit and some of those balls it was a matter of inches.”
Jackson Hutter was a bright spot for Mount Pleasant (1-2, 4-4) with nine carries for 107 yards, including a 74-yard burst in the first quarter for his team’s lone touchdown that tied the game at 7-7.
It was all Belle Vernon after that in a game that had all its scoring come in the first half.
Despite the loss, coach Jason Fazekas’s Vikings are alone in fourth place in the conference, one game ahead of both Greensburg Salem and South Allegheny. The top four teams qualify for the playoffs.
Mount Pleasant hosts South Allegheny next week while the Leopards host Southmoreland.
Humbert is pleased at the way his team is progressing as the Leopards ran their winning streak to four following two close non-conference losses to McKeesport and Penn-Trafford.
“I think we’re on good footing right now,” Humbert said. “You want to build upon your previous game, you want that growth. One good thing was challenges with the non-conference games that we had. It put us in some uncomfortable situations and when you do that it makes you better.
“We’re moving along and we’re growing each week and that’s what we need to do.”
(Westley Burchianti contributed to this story.)