Martin remains second in TD Club, but Leopards are first in WPIAL
Ed Thompson
Quinton Martin remained in second place in the 无毛视频-Standard Touchdown Club standings but it’s unlikely the senior Penn State recruit cared.
Martin’s team wound up first in the WPIAL.
Belle Vernon blanked Avonworth, 26-0, in the WPIAL Class AAA championship game to claim its second straight district title.
The second-seeded Antelopes prevented Martin from scoring but couldn’t contain quarterback Braden Laux or penetrate the Leopards’ mighty defense in falling to top-seeded Belle Vernon in the WPIAL final again. Avonworth lost to the Leopards in last year’s district championship game, 24-7.
Belle Vernon moves into the PIAA semifinals this Friday against Hickory with a 7 p.m. kickoff at North Allegheny.
The Leopards are the only local team still alive in the postseason.
The TD Club top 10 remained unchanged with California’s Jake Layhue holding onto the lead with 170 points and teammate Spencer Petrucci finishing right behind with 166 points.
Martin stayed in third place with 156 point, 14 points behind Layhue.
Elizabeth Forward’s Charlie Nigut is fourth with 140 points, with Southmoreland’s Da’sjon Craggette fifth (114), Jefferson-Morgan’s Deakyn Dehoet sixth (104) and West Greene’s Billy Whitlatch seventh (98).
The Pioneers’ Colin Brady and Waynesburg Central’s Breydon Woods are tied for eighth with the Trojans’ Lee Qualk 10th (92).
Laux scored on a pair of short touchdown runs to increase his total to 32 points and also threw a 25-yard TD pass to Jake Gedekoh who moved up into a four-way tie for 27th place with 48 points.
The Leopards’ other points came from kicker Preston Rathway, who booted three extra points as well as a 26-yard field goal, and Dominic Ghilani, who added his name to the scoring list by making a tackle for a safety.
Rathway became the fifth kicker to make multiple field goals this season. Elizabeth Forward’s Will Sinay made eight, Mount Pleasant’s Jarrett Garn and Southmoreland’s Jake Kaylor both made six and Laurel Highlands’ Tanner Bruzda made three.
Ed ThompsonBelle Vernon’s Braden Laux (14) runs down the sidelines during Friday’s WPIAL Class AAA championship game against Avonworth at Acrisure Stadium. Laux ran for two touchdowns and threw for another in the Leopards’ 26-0 victory.