What We Learned
Keith Groller and Stephen Miller’s insights, observations on the week in high school football
The regular season is in the books and the District 11 playoff fields are set.
Before we dissect all of the first-round postseason matchups, let’s look back on the final weekend of the regular season, which included lots of rivalry games and the 100th meeting between Bangor and Pen Argyl in the Slate Belt.
1. Northampton finally ends drought against EPC South:
Over the first four years of the new Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, Northampton was a member of the South Division and didn’t win a game in the division, going 0-32.
In fact, the Konkrete Kids hadn’t defeated a current member of the EPC South since beating Bethlehem Catholic 35-6 on Sept. 21, 2012.
When winless Whitehall led Northampton 37-20 on an Ali Barkley TD run early in the fourth quarter Friday night, it looked as though the drought would continue.
But Tyrese Brandon ran the kickoff back to spark a 23-0 run that carried the K-Kids to a 43-37 win that not only served as their ninth win in a row but also sends the EPC North champs into districts on a high note.
Joe Kerbacher threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns, including the 8-yard gamewinner to Jared Russell.
Brandon finished with 137 yards rushing, 126 yards receiving and had four TDs overall.
Northampton will need to clean up the penalties after being flagged 12 times for 124 yards and tighten a defense that allowed 246 yards rushing, including 127 by Barkley.
The K-Kids will go for two in a row over the EPC South when they host Easton on Friday in the 6A quarterfinals.
2. The Blue Eagles can run it:
On a night when Nathan Stefanik scored four touchdowns and Nazareth’s defense sacked Easton quarterback Cole Transue six times, the Blue Eagles also received a night of tough running from sophomore Tyler Rohn. He carried the ball 22 times for 109 yards to help Nazareth win the EPC South title.
Rohn’s longest carry covered 11 yards, but he had a bunch of runs in the 3-to-6-yard range to keep Nazareth moving the football. He leads the Blue Eagles with 518 rushing yards.
Rohn’s play has helped the Blue Eagles overcome injuries to two other running backs, seniors Kyle Paccio (torn ACL suffered before the season) and Logan Grom (foot).
“Rohny’s been awesome all year long,” Nazareth coach
Tom Falzone said. “We’ve subbed him in and out throughout the year, but he’s been tried and true.”
3. Tigers stay in top spot: Because it was a playing a winless team in a class below it, Northwestern Lehigh lost power points with its 47-0 win over Catasauqua on Friday.
However, losses by both Bethlehem Catholic and Pottsville allowed the Tigers to keep the No. 1 seed in the upcoming District 11 Class 4A tournament. Northwestern could be at home for both quarterfinal round and semifinal games. The title game is played at a neutral site.
Northwestern will host Lehighton in its district opener Saturday. The Indians have dropped five straight after starting out 3-2.
As for the rout of the Rough Riders, Tigers coach Josh Snyder got to rest many regulars. Unheralded senior Jayden Allen had a big night with a touchdown reception, three rushing TDs and a 77-yard rushing performance.
4. Easton hasn’t regained its offensive edge: Friday’s loss to Nazareth sent Easton into the District 11 Class 6A playoffs with a four-game losing streak. The Red Rovers’ veteran offensive line has scuffled during the last three games of the skid.
Easton again struggled to create room for its ground game Friday, averaging 2.45 yards on 40 attempts. Nahjee Adams was held under 80 rushing yards for a third straight game after averaging 190.4 yards over his first seven games.
The Red Rovers cannot afford another subpar performance from their O-line if they want to last more than a week in districts.
5. Rauscher is rolling into the playoffs: Central Catholic quarterback Matt Rauscher finished the best month of his high school career by topping 250 yards of total offense for a second straight week. He ran for 150 yards on just 12 carries and threw for another 111 yards as the Vikings clinched a winning regular season with Friday’s 31-24 victory over Bethlehem Catholic.
Rauscher threw for 704 yards and completed 72.8% of his passes in October as Central Catholic went 3-1, with wins over Emmaus, Liberty and Bethlehem Catholic. He also ran for 331 yards while averaging 7.5 yards per carry.
Rauscher’s surging play has the Vikings looking like a threat to emerge from the eight-team District 11 Class 4A bracket.
6. Officially speaking: Even the officials in Saturday’s 100th game between Bangor and Pen Argyl had a Slate Belt flavor, with most of the guys either from one of the participating schools or a Northampton County town.
Joe Diorio, a Pius X graduate, was the referee. Barry Schaffer, an Easton firefighter, was the umpire. Bangor products Larry Eichlin (head linesman) and Kevin Labar (side judge) worked the game, as did Pen Argyl products Mark Cesare (field judge) and Craig Reduzzi (back judge). Tommy Singer of Nazareth was the line judge.
Speaking of officials, Dennis Rehrig was given the game ball by athletic directors Tom Moll (Catasauqua) and Jason Zimmerman (Northwestern Lehigh) after he worked the Roughies-Tigers game. Rehrig, who has also been a boys basketball assistant at Northern Lehigh, announced he is retiring after 35 seasons.
Also leaving his post will be Marian Catholic coach Pat Morgans after three seasons. The Colts were 1-9 this season with two forfeit losses. They were down to 16 healthy players at season’s end.