Quinton Martin romps, Belle Vernon stomps Trinity

By: Jeremy Sellew
Friday, October 15, 2021 | 11:55 PM

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It’s not quite Halloween, but Trinity may have nightmares of Belle Vernon’s Quinton Martin. After his performance Friday, who could blame them?

Trinity bore witness to the return of the Leopards’ talented sophomore, who suffered a hyperextended knee three weeks ago against Thomas Jefferson.

Martin exploded for five touchdowns against the Hillers in a 49-0 Belle Vernon win on the Beach at James Weir Stadium.

After the game, Martin was blunt when he talked about what his expectations were returning to action.

“I expected a game like this,” Martin said. “I knew it as soon as the opening kickoff hit my hands. I felt comfortable immediately, and wearing this brace, I knew I didn’t have to worry about my knee any more.”

Martin returned the opening kickoff for what appeared to be a 90-yard touchdown, but the play was called back by a holding penalty.

It didn’t take the Leopards (7-0, 5-0) long to strike. On third down of the first drive, quarterback Devin Whitlock rolled right and launched a ball downfield that hit Evan Pohlot in stride for a 71-yard touchdown.

“That play was huge, and it got us off to the start we wanted,” BVA coach Matt Humbert said.

A bit later in the first, the Hillers punted the ball away and started a bizarre series of events. First, they kicked it to Whitlock, which by the groan of the coaches in the press box, was not the plan.

As Whitlock weaved his way through the Trinity coverage, three penalty flags were thrown. Whitlock ended up in the end zone for an 85-yard return. After a conference among the officials, the flags were waved off and the touchdown stood to make it 14-0.

In the second quarter, Trinity started to move the ball behind the arm of quarterback Connor Roberts and a pass interference call on Martin. The drive stalled, though, at the Belle Vernon 28.

It took only three plays for Martin to hit paydirt on a 67-yard touchdown run, pulling away and hitting an extra gear between two Trinity defenders.

“It was good to see Q back out there,” Humbert said. “He left little doubt the knee feels fine, and he’s running on all cylinders.”

Trinity fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, and 14 seconds after his touchdown run, Martin caught a pass over the middle and turned it into a 34-yard score to make it 28-0.

“It was nice because there are some games when we just need Devin to be the game manager,” Humbert said. “I thought he did a great job with his arm tonight. He didn’t take many hits, and he just did his thing back there. Having Q back was a big reason for that, too.”

The Leopards made it 35-0 after the Hillers turned it over on downs again. It was another quick strike, just two plays ending in a 65-yard touchdown run by Martin. He finished the game with eight carries but racked up 181 yards on the ground.

The Hillers (2-6, 1-3) couldn’t muster any points at the end of the first half as BVA’s Cole Weightman forced another fumble in the final minute to send his team to the locker room leading 35-0.

The second half flew by with the running clock invoked, but the Leopards got on the board with 59 seconds remaining in the third quarter on a 22-yard pass from Whitlock to Martin.

Whitlock finished 8 of 9 passing for 177 yards and the three touchdowns.

Another Trinity fumble midway through the fourth quarter helped lead to Jake Gedekoh’s 39-yard touchdown run with four minutes remaining for the final score.

“We would have liked to get the ball in Jake’s hands a little more,” Humbert said. “All three of those guys have proven what they can do with the ball in their hands. There were so many quick scores tonight, and I was glad to see Q have the game he did.”

Roberts finished 12 of 24 for 137 passing for the Hillers, but four lost fumbles told the tale.

On the other sideline, Humbert was glad to see his team play a cleaner game and expressed his pride in the guys who were thrown into tough positions replacing injured players.

“We had Luke Bryer in for his brother, Jack. We had Dane Levi and Steve Macheska in there. I was glad to see them step in the way they did. We’ll break it down when we watch the film, but they were called upon and did their job,” Humbert said.

The Leopards will have a bye week next week and prepare for McKeesport on Oct. 29.

“After looking at it, we’re sitting in a good position, and we have an extra week to prepare for that triple option,” Humbert said. “We hold the cards, and the conference championship runs through the beach. Playing them in the final game probably isn’t ideal, but McKeesport is a team that gains momentum as the season rolls on. They did it last season, too. They like to get rolling, they like to hit and we have to be ready for it.”

Notes: Martin finished with four catches for 82 yards, Pohlot had three catches for 95. Tanner Moody, Reilly Wiant, Weightman and Cody Dongilli each had six tackles for BVA. … Gedekoh carried five times for 60 yards. … Belle Vernon committed eight penalties for 75 yards.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Trinity