Defensive stand, late TD lift Blue Eagles

Every school in the EPC South knows how much of a gamewrecker Nazareth’s Sean Kinney, an all-state selection as both an offensive and defensive lineman in 2022, can be.

The two-time state champion wrestler anchored a Blue Eagles defensive unit that made a crucial stand inside its own 1 to keep Friday’s game against Allentown Central Catholic scoreless late in the first half.

But it wasn’t Kinney who came through with the biggest play in Nazareth’s 14-7 victory.

It was senior defensive lineman Tony Pilla who exploded past the formidable Vikings’ offensive line and met senior running back Nathan Schultz in the backfield for a 5-yard loss on a 4th-and-1 with a little over five minutes remaining in the contest.

Schultz, who ran the ball 21 times for 96 yards, including 71 in the second half, could do nothing when the 233-pound senior blew up the play.

“Brady [Pidgeon] got my block on the side and then I just came through clean and got the tackle,” Pilla said as he was doused with water cups by his teammates.

Pilla’s momentum-swinging play put the ball back into the hands of sophomore quarterback Peyton Falzone who found Caleb Newsome on a run-pass option slant across the middle for the go-ahead score with just 2:44 remaining.

“We were looking to read that outside backer and see what he was going to do,” Falzone said. “Caleb ran a perfect route and made my job super easy. I just had to make the pass.”

The junior wide receiver sparked the opening scoring drive as well, beating his man down the right sideline on a 61-yard pass to the Vikings’ 12. He finished with four catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Senior running back Jed Bendekovits ran the next two plays for 12 yards and broke the plane with just 1:46 remaining in the first half to give Nazareth a 7-0 lead.

This touchdown drive was preceded by Kinney’s stops inside the 1, forcing Allentown Central Catholic coach Rob Melosky to settle for a 20-yard field goal attempt in hopes of getting his team on the board first.

A high snap led to a blocked kick that Mason Kuehner returned to his own 25.

“When you’re playing a team like Nazareth who is a district-championship-caliber team year in and year out, you can’t come up empty down there,” Melosky said. “We have to be hungry to put the ball in and we didn’t do that. That one hurts.”

The Vikings responded when talented wide receiver Jareel Calhoun made a 24-yard sliding catch on a double-move in the front corner of the end zone to knot the game at 7-7 with 3:51 left in the third quarter.

It ended up being the only catch of the game for the star junior, who entered the contest ranked second in receptions in the EPC South.