Northampton routs East Stroudsburg South on the road
A Friday night showdown against East Stroudsburg South at the famed Purple Pit was supposed to be the first true test of the season for unbeaten, unchallenged Northampton.
It was not.
Another game, another mercyrule rout for the Konkrete Kids.
Coach John Toman’s crew KO’d another overmatched Eastern Pennsylvania Conference North Division opponent, taking the Cavaliers to the woodshed during the second half of a 35-0 triumph in a battle of the division’s top teams.
Northampton improved to 5-0 overall and 5-0 in the North Division with a game against South Division contender Bethlehem Catholic set for Week 6.
Coach Matt Walters’ East Stroudsburg South squad dropped to 3-2 overall and in the division.
“You’re only as good as your last game,” said Toman, in his second season at Northampton. “We’ll enjoy this one tonight and turn the page real quick to get ready for Bethlehem Catholic. We all know that’s the one we’ll be judged on. We’ll be ready. They’ll be ready. It should be a good game.”
To be fair, East Stroudsburg South certainly provided more resistance to Toman’s K-Kids than their first four foes. (Northampton outscored their opponents by a combined 222-18 entering Friday’s matchup.)
The defensive unit stood out in win No. 5.
They limited the Cavaliers to six first downs (two in the opening half ) and 69 yards of total offense (36 in the first half ). Northampton’s D also forced East Stroudsburg South into three second-half turnovers.
“The big focus was don’t let them get any momentum,” said junior Tristen Pinnock, who had one of his team’s two interceptions. “Their ground game is ground-and-pound, and as long as we stopped that, we had faith in our secondary to stop the pass as well.
“Our coach always says the only thing that matter is turnovers and final score. We generated turnovers and it led to the final score.”
The shutout was the K-Kids’ second straight. They’ve allowed 18 points through five contests.
“If you look at the entire season,” Toman said, “the defense has been pretty consistent. The kids, they’re believing in the schemes, believing in what they’re doing and the defensive staff has them firing on all cylinders for sure. They believe they can stop people. That makes it easy for the offensive staff, knowing the defense is going to create turnovers and give us good field position.”
Northampton scored on TD drives of 8 and 10 yards in the second half, and four of their five touchdown drives were 42 yards or shorter.
Junior Caden Henritzy took care of the heavy lifting on offense.
The powerful 6-foot-2, 210-pounder carried 28 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns. He scored on runs of 8 and 1 yards in the third quarter.
“I love this type of game,” Henritzy said. “I love a physical game. That’s the style we play. The line loves run blocking and they played really well tonight. We had a good game-plan for me to get the ball and it worked out.”
Northampton reached the end zone on its second possession, covering 69 yards in seven plays to take a 6-0 advantage. Senior quarterback Antonino Russo found speedy classmate Jaelen Richardson for 41-yard pass play to set up senior power back Carson Czarnecki’s 1-yard touchdown plunge.
Russo booted a 30-yard field goal on the initial play of the second quarter and then he hooked up again with Richardson for an 11-yard scoring strike. The K-Kids led 15-0 at halftime.
Henritzy scored twice in the third period and AJ Slivka’s 2-yard TD run on fourth down in the final period, along with Russo’s extra point, set into effect the runningclock mercy rule.
“We come out to play our best,” Pinnock said. “Regardless of who’s across from us we’re going to make plays and do what we have to do.”
“We take it one week at a time and we play who we play,” Henritzy said. “We keep working at practice and preparing for the teams we’ll play in the South. We have Beca next week and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Football future: East Stroudsburg South and Northampton both play EPC crossover contests at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium next weekend.
The Cavaliers travel to Bethlehem to play Liberty in a Friday night affair. The Konkrete Kids face Bethlehem Catholic in a Saturday night special. It will be the first time the EPC North programs play South Division teams this season.