Jayden Floyd, Leechburg rout Jeannette, improve to 5-0 for 1st time since 1981
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Friday, September 20, 2024 | 10:40 PM
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd beats Jeannette’s Issac Smartnick to the end zone for a third-quarter touchdown Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Jeannette’s Kymon’e Brown avoids Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Leechburg’s Geno Granata (70) and Timmy Andrasy take down Jeannette’s Kymon’e Brown on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Leechburg’s Philip Rearick causes Jeannette’s Kymon’e Brown to fumble Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd splits the Jeannette defense for a first-quarter touchdown Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd avoids Jeannette’s Mcalister Steele on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Leechburg’s Timmy Andrasy dives for extra yardage against Jeannette on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Leechburg’s Timmy Andras defends on a pass intended for Jeannette’s Hunter Schaeffer on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Leechburg’s Timmy Andrasy celebrates with Jaxon Vargo after Vargo’s interception of a pass intended for Jeannette’s Noah Sunder on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd beats Jeannette’s Hunter Schaeffer and Mcalister Steele for a first-quarter touchdown Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, at McKee Stadium.
Leechburg quarterback Jayden Floyd put on quite a show with legs Friday at McKee Stadium.
Floyd scored four touchdowns in the first half and intercepted a pass as Leechburg throttled Jeannette, 35-13, in a battle of unbeatens in the WPIAL Class A Eastern Conference.
It’s the first time since 1981 that Leechburg began the season 5-0. It is 2-0 in the conference.
Jeannette (4-1, 1-1) made too many mistakes and couldn’t slow down Floyd, who rushed for 209 yards and finished with five touchdowns.
The Jayhawks had a touchdown in the first quarter nullified by a holding penalty, had a punt blocked and ran out of time with a drive late in the second quarter. They turned the ball over three times.
Leechburg scored on every possession in the first half. Floyd went 50 yards for a score on his team’s first possession.
After he intercepted a pass by Jeannette quarterback Kymon’e Brown, he capped a short 10-yard drive with a 7-yard score on the same draw play that he scored his first score for a 14-0 lead.
“I like running the draw play,” Floyd said. “It allows me to pick a hole, and my line does a great job.
“It was a team win. I couldn’t do this without my linemen and my skill players. They were great. They blocked and gave me holes.”
Jeannette was in position to cut into Leechburg’s lead, but a holding call on a touchdown pass stopped its drive.
Leechburg took possession at its 36, and in four plays, marched 64 yards for the score with Floyd racing 47 yards for the touchdown on the final play of the first quarter for a 21-0 lead.
Leechburg’s Lucas Oldfield then blocked a Jeannette punt near midfield, and the Blue Devils converted it into a touchdown, with Floyd scoring on a 5-yard scamper to make it 28-0.
Jeannette drove to the Leechburg 8, but Brown and Jayce Powell couldn’t convert on the final play of the half.
“We’re pretty good up front, and we thought we could run the ball against them,” Leechburg coach Randy Walters said. “Jayden is a game breaker, there is no doubt about it. He’s a dynamic runner, and he’s tough as hell. He has great vision.”
Leechburg rushed for 349 yards. Tim Andrasy had 73 yards, and Jake Cummings added 67.
Jeannette, thanks to a 60-yard pass from Brown to Noah Sunder to open the second half, cut the lead to 28-6 when Brown scored from the 1.
But late in the third quarter, after a Jeannette fumble, Floyd got loose again on a 48-yard touchdown run.
“We did some good things of offense,” Walters said. “We had a bunch of penalties (11 for 90) to clean up, but you just have no idea how we had to piece together things on defense. My defensive staff did an unbelievable job.
“We had our defensive end playing linebacker, our linebacker playing corner all night and the kids did a great job. This was more of a defensive win.”
Jeannette got a late touchdown to make it 35-13 when Markus McGowan connected on a 45-yard strike to Xavier Odoriscio-Farrow.
Brown rushed for 109 yards on 16 carries, but he had a rough night throwing the ball. He completed 5 of 14 passes for 72 yards.
“They got off to a great start, and you can’t beat a team like Leechburg the way we played,” Jeannette coach Tommy Paulone Jr. said. “They did what they needed to do to win the game and came here with more purpose than we did.
“Jayden is a great quarterback. He’s a leader, and he’s made tremendous growth since the first time I saw him as a sophomore.”
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
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