Football Preview: Belle Vernon Leopards vs. Thomas Jefferson Jaguars
The Belle Vernon Leopards will head out on the road to square off against the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Belle Vernon will head out to face Thomas Jefferson after giving up their first home loss of the season on Friday. Belle Vernon took a 27-14 hit to the loss column at the hands of South Fayette. The Leopards have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Belle Vernon might have lost, but man, Kole Doppelheuer was a machine: he picked up 111 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 54 yards.
Meanwhile, Thomas Jefferson put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. They breezed by West Mifflin on the road to the tune of 35-7. Given the Jaguars' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 14th, while the Titans are ranked 128th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Tyler Eber was his usual excellent self, rushing for 209 yards and two touchdowns, while also picking up 30 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Luke Kosko, who threw for 170 yards and three touchdowns while completing 78.6% of his passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Thomas Jefferson was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 230 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 160 rushing yards in six consecutive games dating back to last season.
Belle Vernon's defeat ended a five-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 1-3. As for Thomas Jefferson, they pushed their record up to 5-0 with the win, which was their third straight on the road.
Belle Vernon came up short against Thomas Jefferson in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, falling 24-19. Thankfully for Belle Vernon, Jason Salman (who picked up 166 receiving yards and a touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
