Greensburg Salem hopes to ruin Belle Vernon’s beach party in Big 8 battle

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, September 26, 2018 | 4:51 PM

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Greensburg Salem will be headed to the beach on Friday.

But this trip isn’t a vacation.

There will be no surfing, swimming or volleyball at this beach, just a hard-fought football game on the gold turf at James Weir Stadium, which is known by the Belle Vernon Leopards and their fans as the beach. It will serve as the site for a key WPIAL Class 4A Big 8 Conference battle.

The Golden Lions (2-3, 2-0) are hoping to challenge No. 3-ranked Belle Vernon (3-1, 2-1) and remain atop the conference standings with No. 1 Thomas Jefferson.

Belle Vernon has been a force under fifth-year coach Matt Humbert.

The Leopards have won two conference titles since Humbert took over in 2014 and are 35-11 overall and 30-6 in the conference in that span.

Belle Vernon reached the WPIAL semifinals in 2017, but was blanked by conference rival and eventual WPIAL champion Thomas Jefferson, 27-0. The Leopards defeated the Jaguars, 21-17, last regular season.

Belle Vernon’s goal is to get back to the championship game, after playing for titles in 1999, 1996 and 1995, when the Leopards defeated Franklin Regional, 22-6, for their only title.

Greensburg Salem, which posted the school’s 692 ^nd win against Laurel Highlands, is looking for more consistent play and to challenge for conference titles year-in and year-out, much like Belle Vernon and Thomas Jefferson.

“I’m expecting a good battle,” Humbert said. “What they do with their quarterback (Trent Patrick) challenges your defense. He a good thrower and a player that doesn’t shy away from contact. He has some brawn about him.”

Patrick has rushed for 207 yards and scored five touchdowns and has completed 37 of 73 passes for 564 yards and seven touchdowns.

“We have to be a more physical football team,” Greensburg Salem senior lineman Jack Merola-Lapson said. “We have to play with that mentality.”

What has helped the Golden Lions offense the past two weeks is the emergence of junior running back Aaren Putt. He rushed for 199 yards and a touchdown last week against Laurel Highlands, and he rushed for 108 yards against South Fayette. He’s rushed for 430 yards and four touchdowns this season.

“I like what we’re doing offensively,” Greensburg Salem Dave Keefer said. “We’ve given ourselves the ability to spread the field.

“Trent is throwing the ball well at times. It all comes down to the play of the guys up front. At times they get overlooked. Our quality has been created by the up-front guys.”

The play in the trenches will be key. Keefer has been encouraged by the play of his line, and Belle Vernon, according to Humbert, is welcoming back Division I-bound tackle Kirk Popelas, who missed the first four games with an illness. Also returning is outside linebacker Andrew Pacek.

“Greensburg Salem is well coached, and we’ll get their best effort,” Humbert said. “I like how we’ve bounced back after the loss to Thomas Jefferson. We made uncharacteristic mistakes against them that kept us behind. It’s going to be nice to get Kirk and Andrew back.”

Running back Mason Pascoe had an impressive game against Thomas Jefferson. He rushed for 270 yards and two scores.

Greensburg Salem senior linebacker Phil Fyock said he’s looking forward to the battle and trying to slow down Pascoe.

“When I was in eighth grade, we beat them. It was considered a big upset,” Fyock said. “We have to play downhill, play our keys, get in Pascoe’s way and fill the holes. If we do that, we’ll be all right.”

Pascoe has rushed for 752 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He had 197 yards and three scores at Indiana last week.

“There is no question that Mason makes them go,” Keefer said. “He’s extremely talented and very fast. We hope we can find someone to match his speed.

“You watch them on film and you can tell they want to run the football. They’re very good on both sides of the ball and are very disciplined on defense.”

But Greensburg Salem has played well at times and Keefer said he expects even more from his team.

“We’re playing with a little more confidence on offense, and defensively we’re tweaking and adjusting things,” Keefer said. “We’ve shown signs of playing very good defense, at times. I hope we go down there with a nice package and play well.”

Paul Schofield is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can reach Paul at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Greensburg Salem