Thomas Jefferson cruises to easy win over Belle Vernon
Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News
Andrew Schaffer | September 28, 2024
In the past couple of years the rivalry between Thomas Jefferson and Belle Vernon had some dramatic finishes but tonight was a completely different story as Thomas Jefferson dominated in their 42-14 win over Belle Vernon.
Early on both teams struggled on offense. Belle Vernon went three and twice and Thomas Jefferson did once. On Belle Vernon’s second drive they punted it away and the ball was muffed and Belle Vernon recovered. Belle Vernon immediately capitalized on the mistake on the first play when Curtis Wade found Kole Doppelheuer for a 45 yard touchdown pass. That made the score 7-0 Belle Vernon with 6:31 in the first quarter. That was the score at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was a big quarter for Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson tied it up on a 17 yard run by Tyler Eber. With 9:37 in the second quarter the score was tied. Eber had a great game for Thomas Jefferson he rushed for 177 yards on 38 carries. “He did, he’s got a little speed, a little bit of power” said Coach Cherpak.
About 4 minutes later Thomas Jefferson took the lead when Luke Kosko found Brayden White for a 35 yard touchdown pass that made it 14-7 Thomas Jefferson with 5:17 in the second quarter. White had a decent night he had 5 catches for 101 yards.
Luke Kosko also had a big night for Thomas Jefferson he was 8 of 19 for 158 yards passing. “The thing about Luke is he’s still a first year starter really, he split time last year, he’s really a first year starter, every game he’s getting better and more comfortable, he’s really done a nice job for us” said Coach Cherpak.
Before the first half ended Thomas Jefferson added one more touchdown on a 2 yard run by Tyler Eber with 57 seconds left. That made the score 21-7 at the half. “Well we knew physically we felt we had an advantage and we wanted to establish that, because in the first half those 5 and 8 yard runs turned into 15 and 20 yard runs in the second half, that’s what we wanted to establish the most, and it opened up the pass a little bit, overall I think we did what we wanted to do” said Coach Cherpak.
The second half was more of the same. On Belle Vernon’s first play of their first drive they fumbled it and Thomas Jefferson recovered it at the Belle Vernon 17 yard line. On the fifth play of the drive Luke Kosko scored on a 1 yard run making it 28-7 Thomas Jefferson with 6:o6 in the third quarter. That was the score at the end of three.
On the first play in the fourth quarter Thomas Jefferson added to their lead on a 1 yard run by Tyler Eber. “It was awesome the offensive line helped a lot my full back Trent Miller helped a lot, it was a great game overall” said Eber.
On the next drive Belle Vernon was finally able to get something going on offense. On the first play Curtis Wade found Kole Doppelheuer for a 92 yard touchdown pass making the score 35-14 with 11:29 in the fourth quarter.
Thomas Jefferson got the ball at their own 20 yard line to start their next drive it was a long drive that took up almost half the quarter and it was finished off on a 13 yard run by Emmett Forte making the score 42-14 Thomas Jefferson with 5:07 left in the game.
Belle Vernon was driving down the field but the drive ended with an interception in the red zone and after that Thomas Jefferson ran the clock out.
Next week Thomas Jefferson hosts Trinity and Belle Vernon hosts Chartiers Valley.
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