Parkland starts with win
Trojans beat Whitehall 41-24 on a delayed opening night
Parkland became the last Lehigh Valley team to play a high school football game Friday night as the Trojans finally got into action against Whitehall in Orefield about a month and a half after the season was supposed to begin on Aug. 28.
Based on what it showed in an impressive 41-24 victory, Parkland might be one of the last teams playing when the District 11 playoffs conclude next month.
Senior Isiah Rico ran for 152 yards on 17 carries and scored three touchdowns and was a force on defense in winning the Joe Gerencser MVP award given annually to the top player in the Parkland-Whitehall game. Gerencser was a legendary coach who won titles at both schools.
Rico wasn’t worried about winning awards. He was just happy to finally go against people in different colored jerseys.
“It was really nice coming out after such a long wait and proving to everybody what Parkland is all about and what wecan do and showing there’s no fall off from last year,” Rico said. “The first half was great.”
Trojans coach Tim Moncman had said several times during the wait for the season to start that he felt he had quality skill-position players on the roster, many of them like Rico having played significant roles on Parkland’s 10-3 squad in 2019 that reached the District 11 6A finals before losing in overtime to Nazareth.
What concerned Moncman was having to replace their entire offensive line.
The O-line’s debut was solid as evidenced by 302 yards rushing and more than 430 yards overall.
“I was more concerned than I think the kids were about a lack of live action,” Moncman said. “I wasn’t sure how we’d tackle after going with the same guys every day. But I thought considering we had just three returning starters out of 22 out there, that first half was as good as we’ve had in a long time.”
Parkland scored 34 straight points
after Whitehall seized a quick 3-0 lead.
Most impressive was the new-look offensive line.
“I thought those guys did a hell of a job in the first half and maybefaltered a little bit in the second half with a loss of intensity,” Moncmansaid.“Jakob Koren, Brock Boyer, Garrett Fitzgerald, Marko Galetovic andLucasFeher. Theyplayed well.”
They not only created holes for Rico, but also provided time for quarterback Ty Tremba and Dahlir Adams, who found the end zone.
“You have to give them credit,” WhitehallcoachMattSennecasaid.“Defensively we didn’t play very well at all in the first half.Weweren’tphysicalenoughandwere getting pushed around. I hadto challenge them at halftime and said I didn’t care about the scoreboard. I just wanted to see if we could play the way we’re taught to play and wedid a better job.”
The Zephyrs, who had the advantage of playing two games and enjoyed their first win since 2018 when they beat Dieruff last week, started strong.
They moved 75 yards to the Parkland 5, getting 53 yards on a pass from Quinn Wentling to Ryan Kovalchick.
But the drive stalled there and Connor Fenstermaker booted a 22-yard field goal.
The rest of the half belonged to Parkland.
The Trojans scored on five of their next six possessions.
Rico scored on TD runs of 11 and 17 yards and Tremba ran for a 35-yard score and passed to J.T. Siggins for a 31-yard touchdown. Junior Dahlir Adams got his first career TD with a 7-yard run to close the half.
Parkland had 188 yards rushing in the first half and Tremba passed for 95 yards.
The Whitehall offense had just 79 yards in the first half after the opening drive and was hurt by an interception picked off by Parkland’s Jayden Sanchez.
It was Parkland’s sixth straight win in the series and 16th in 18 games since 2002. The Trojans won last year’s game 48-29.
With Parkland needing one more score to put the mercy rule in effect, Whitehall’s defense stiffened and stopped the Trojans offense three times in the third quarter.
The offense picked up on the momentum created by the defense and struck for its first touchdown of the game, a 47-yard pass from Quinn Wentling to Tommy Buskirk.
Rico got the Parkland offense going again, carrying three straight times for 55 yards, including a 10-yard TD.
Whitehall closed the scoring with two touchdowns over the game’s last 6:35. One came on a one-yard run by Damonte
Foreman and the other on a two-yard burst by Nigel Linton to make the final tally a bit more respectable.
Whitehall hosts Allen on Thursday night. Whitehall takes on Dieruff Friday at J. Birney Crum Stadium.