Revenge a factor for unbeaten rivals Belle Vernon, Thomas Jefferson

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 11, 2017 | 6:12 PM

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Belle Vernon and Thomas Jefferson high schools are separated by only 13 ¹⁄₂ miles.

When the unbeaten rivals square off Friday for first place in the WPIAL Class 4A Big 9 Conference, they will see how far they are apart on the football field.

The two were undefeated when they met last year, but Thomas Jefferson had revenge on its mind and routed the Leopards, 55-0. It was Belle Vernon's 31-24 victory the previous season (2015) that ended Thomas Jefferson's 58-game home winning streak.

“We still have the bad taste left in our mouths from two years ago,” Thomas Jefferson senior defensive back Garret Fairman said. “We want to play like we did last year and dominate.”

The rivalry between the programs goes back to the 1970s.

• There was the time Jimbo Cramer transferred to Thomas Jefferson to play for former Bellmar (now a Belle Vernon Middle School) coach Bap Manzini. That season, Belle Vernon blanked TJ, 28-0, behind running back and future coach Gary Dongilli.

• Or the time Belle Vernon and Marlon McIntyre (Pitt, Los Angeles Rams) defeated Thomas Jefferson to win the then Big 10 Conference. TJ then won the WPIAL title by routing Aliquippa, which had beaten Belle Vernon, 8-7, in the semifinals.

Now fast-forward to Friday's game on the gold turf at James Weir Stadium.

Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said his defense, which has allowed only 20 points this season, must limit No. 3-ranked Belle Vernon's big plays.

“It's going to be a big challenge for us,” Cherpak said. “They have a lot of size on their line, and they have some good skilled players. We have to be on our ‘A' game and not let them hit any big plays.”

Heading the defense for TJ is Fairman and defensive linemen Devin Danielson and Noah Palmer, both Pitt recruits. They limited a good Mars team to six points last week.

They'll be going against Belle Vernon's Pitt recruit, offensive tackle Blake Zubovic.

Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said Zubovic, who has been battling injuries, played one of his better games of the season last week when the Leopards defeated Trinity, 28-21.

Others making an impact defensively for the Leopards, according to Humbert, are linemen Kirk Popelas and Logan Petrosky, outside linebacker Dom Dongilli and inside linebackers Derek Thomas, Dylan Haney and Nino Kuntz.

“Everyone knows what TJ wants to do,” Humbert said of Class 4A's top-ranked Jaguars (6-0, 5-0), who have won two straight WPIAL titles. “They are one of the most storied programs in Western Pennsylvania, and they like to run the football.

“We just got to make sure our players know what they like out of what formations and make sure we identify that. I think our players are pretty good at picking things up, and we'll be ready for them.”

Senior running back Justin Vigna is TJ's top rusher, with 907 yards and 13 touchdowns.

“We have to clean things up,” Cherpak said. “We turned the ball over in the red zone a few times last week. You can't do that in big games.”

TJ sophomore quarterback Shane Stump has completed 36 of 78 for 773 yards and 13 touchdowns. Fairman is his top target with 16 catches for 438 yards and eight touchdowns.

“What we have to do to beat TJ is what we do every week — stay focused, do our game plan, execute and play aggressive,” Haney said. “Every game is a faceless opponent, but this week is pretty special.”

Belle Vernon (6-0, 6-0) is led offensively by sophomore quarterback Jared Hartman, who has completed 34 of 80 passes for 530 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Junior running back Mason Pascoe is coming off a 211-yard, two-touchdown performance against Trinity.

“It's always exciting when you're undefeated and you're squaring off against an undefeated team,” Humbert said. “It's good for the kids, good for the community and good for the atmosphere.

“All that stuff is nice, and it's nice to be competing for things that matter, opposed to regular games. The key to that is putting things in perspective and making it another game. You try not to make it bigger than it is. It's business as usual.”

But that could be hard with a possible conference title on the line.

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Thomas Jefferson