No. 1 Thomas Jefferson pulls away from No. 2 Belle Vernon

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 7, 2018 | 10:39 PM

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There was a notable measure of satisfaction glowing on Bill Cherpak’s face Friday night following No. 1 Thomas Jefferson’s 36-14 victory over No. 2 Belle Vernon in an early-season WPIAL Class 4A football showdown at BV’s James Weir Stadium.

The developing rivalry between the two Big Eight Conference schools played out another intriguing chapter amid raindrops and a steady stream of delays caused by cramping muscles in the late-summer heat.

In the end, it was a decisive victory for Cherpak and TJ.

“The emotion before the game, it was live,” Cherpak said.

In a rematch of TJ’s shutout victory in the 2017 WPIAL semifinals, Daniel Deabner caught a pair of touchdown passes from Shane Stump and Max Shaw rushed for two more scores to lead Thomas Jefferson.

All three TJ players topped 100 yards of offense. Deabner caught six passes for 200 yards, Stump finished 7 for 14 for 205 yards passing and Shaw carried 14 times for 119 yards for the Jaguars (2-0, 2-0).

Mason Pascoe rushed for 270 yards on 18 carries, including two long touchdown runs for Belle Vernon (1-1, 0-1).

“They had our attention,” Cherpak said. “We knew they were good. And that back (Pascoe). It’s been awhile since anyone put up those kind of numbers against us.”

In recent years, Belle Vernon has tested the mettle of perennial WPIAL title contender Thomas Jefferson, splitting the previous four meetings with the Jaguars, whose playoff victory last season avenged an earlier regular-season loss to Belle Vernon.

The hype showed up again Friday.

But Thomas Jefferson silenced the home crowd by scoring 23 unanswered points after trailing 7-6 early, and the Jaguars weren’t threatened after going up 29-7 in the third quarter.

“It’s all about growth. My kids are resilient,” Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said. “I’m proud of the effort. Hopefully, this sets the stage for something come November.”

Could the teams meet again in the postseason? Both aim to improve.

“If we stay healthy and keep getting better, this could be one of our better teams. There’s no doubt,” Cherpak said.

Pascoe’s 55-yard touchdown run with 6 minutes, 50 seconds left in the third pulled Belle Vernon within 29-14, but the Leopards couldn’t sustain the momentum.

Thomas Jefferson got the touchdown back early in the fourth on Deron Vanbibber’s 4-yard touchdown run.

Leading by 15 points at halftime, Thomas Jefferson wasted little time adding on as Stump hit Deabner with an 80-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline on the second play of the third quarter for a 29-7 lead.

With the excitement level blaring, both teams came out firing, Belle Vernon first, though the Leopards came up empty after marching almost the length of the field on the game’s initial possession.

Their long drive stalled inside the 10-yard line before a bad snap thwarted a possible 23-yard field goal attempt by Cameron Guess.

“That was big,” Cherpak said. “Once we started moving the ball, they didn’t have an answer.”

It gave Thomas Jefferson possession at the 20 and the Jaguars needed just 1 minute, 53 seconds to get on the board.

Shaw covered the final 27 yards for a touchdown to give the Jaguars a 6-0 lead prior to a botched extra-point attempt.

Trailing early, Belle Vernon charged up the crowd as Pascoe found a crease in the middle and rambled 78 yards on the first play of its next possession to put the Leopards ahead, 7-6.

Thomas Jefferson regained the lead 4 minutes later on a safety.

After Belle Vernon’s Hunter Ruokonen recovered a TJ fumble at the BV 22, the Leopards were unable sustain a drive. But a bad snap on a punt attempt wound up in the end zone, where BV’s Ian Maloney was tackled near the end line, giving TJ an 8-7 advantage.

The Jaguars retained possession following the safety and added on, taking a 15-7 lead with 1:58 left in the first quarter on Shaw’s 30-yard touchdown run.

It stayed that way until the final minute of the second.

Thomas Jefferson’s Logan Danielson recovered a fumble and the Jaguars scored on the next play, Stump connecting with Deabner on a 35-yard pass play with 13.2 seconds remaining to increase the lead to 22-7 at halftime.

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Thomas Jefferson