UNIVERSITY PARK – The 2024 Blue-White Game commenced at Beaver Stadium Saturday as the official close to spring practices.
Blue’s offense went three and out to start the game, and was followed up by a fumbled exchange between Drew Allar and Cam Wallace on White’s first offensive play.
Led by Allar, the White team offense drove inside the 30-yard line before facing 4th and 5. A short pass intended for Kaden Saunders bounced off his hands and resulted in a turnover on downs.
Beau Pribula started for Blue and completed two passes for eight yards. His pass thrown close to the near sideline was intercepted by Zakee Wheatley for the game’s second turnover.
The action remained scoreless at the end of the first quarter. Belle Vernon’s own and the No. 1 running back recruit in PA, Quinton Martin, earned carries for White late in the first quarter and into the second. Martin scored the game’s first touchdown from nine yards out on an inside carry he bounced to the outside and put White in the lead, 7-0. Rising juniors Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen didn’t suit up Saturday.
Kolin Dinkins (Blue) sacked Pribula halfway through the second quarter as Pribula switched from Blue to White but continued to face slight issues with pressure in the pocket.
Facing first and 10 at the 11-yard line with 11 seconds left, a fade route to Harrison Wallace went incomplete through Wallace’s hands. Allar followed it up for White with a fade to the opposite side of the end zone for Malik McCain but concluded with the same result.
Ryan Barker converted a 28-yard field goal for White to grab a 10-0 advantage entering halftime. Allar converted nine passes for 107 yards on 17 attempts.
Linebacker Ta’Mere Robinson stood out on the defensive side along with AJ Harris and DaKaari Nelson getting involved around the ball.
Prebula utilized his legs more often in the second half on a few designed runs/options by new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. Blue only mustered 61 yards of offense through the first three quarters and fell further behind on the scoresheet on a Sander Sahaydak 30-yard field goal. White led 13-0 and received the ball back one play later.
Amin Vanover intercepted Ethan Grunkemeyer with 11 minutes left in the game and set up White inside Blue’s 30. Vanover totaled two tackles, a tackle-for-loss, one sack, and one interception in a dominating performance. Pribula manned the White offense following the turnover and was picked off by Dinkins for what would have been a pick-six… but was ruled down on a sack by Winston Yates. Two plays later, Martin found the end zone again on a 12-yard rushing score as White continued to dominate Blue, 20-0.
With 28 seconds left, Allar found Andrew Rappleyea for a 30-yard score to further pad the White lead and lock down the 27-0 score. Allar finished 15-32 for 202 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a 110.2 QB rating. Pribula took snaps on both sides and closed 5-10 for 25 yards and an interception. He rushed for 16 yards on 11 carries.
Five-star running back Quinton Martin made a strong impression in his Beaver Stadium debut. Martin ran for 34 yards on six rushes and scored two touchdowns. Wallace averaged 5.3 yards per carry and totaled a team-best 36 yards rushing. A healthy Harrison Wallace was noticeable, connecting with Allar on five occasions for 72 yards on seven targets. White outgained Blue 261-69 and 209-29 threw the air. White ended 4-4 in the red zone.
The 2024 season begins at West Virginia on August 31.
