Northampton caps off perfect back-to-back EPC seasons
A perfect 10, times two. The Northampton Konkrete Kids, with Friday night’s 42-7 mercy-rule win over Whitehall on Senior Night at Al Erdosy Stadium, completed a second-straight 10-0 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference season.
Coach John Toman’s K-Kids secured the North Division title several weeks ago, and this week they flexed their significant muscle for the South Division as a playoff preview.
Northampton showed off its vast array of offensive weapons against Whitehall.
Junior Caden Henritzy was the headliner with 168 yards rushing, including his 1,000th of the season, and four touchdowns. Classmate Tristen Pinnock contributed 72 yards and a late TD, and the senior tag-team of quarterback Antonino Russo and wideout Jaelen Richardson hooked up for a 53-yard scoring strike.
“We had a great week of practice,” Henritzy said. “We were motivated and we were locked in this week. Our goal since the start of the season was to go 10-0 again. We took advantage of our opportunity.”
The K-Kids displayed their offensive diversity in the opening half.
On their initial possession of the night, they covered 75 yards in 16 plays (all run plays) to open up a 7-0 advantage. They consumed 9-minutes, 47-seconds of game clock. Henritzy capped the possession with a 9-yard burst through the middle.
On their second drive, they needed only three plays to reach the end zone.
The payoff was the pinpoint 53-yard bomb Russo threw to a wide-open Richardson.
“The line opened up huge holes so we could do our thing,” said Henritzy, who rushed for 113 yards and the only TD in last year’s 7-0 win over Whitehall. “Then, when you get players coming into the box, you go over the top. That was open.”
Northampton, which has mercy-ruled eight of its 10 opponents, pulled away throughout the second half.
Henritzy scored on runs of 7 and 24 yards just nine seconds apart in the third quarter.
The K-Kids forced three consecutive turnovers, one a fumble recovery and two on interceptions. Michael Coleman, Pinnock and Richardson all had interceptions for Northampton. Coleman’s came late in the first half of action.
In total, the Kids amassed 299 yards rushing and 89 passing.
A lot of the credit for their offensive success goes to their experienced O-line, Toman said, a unit that includes senior threeyear starters Christian Bundra and Luke Baker, as well as junior center Colby Reph.
“We knew coming in here that everyone says we’re a South team and we’re not going to do anything,” said Reph, a 6-foot, 270-pound two-way starter. “We came out and mercy-ruled another team. We have faith. We know what we can do.”
Toman liked the way his team practiced during the week and that carried over into Friday night’s game.
“The kids were fired up all week to play this game,” said Toman, in his second season at Northampton. “We play into that whole South vs. North thing and the kids were ready to play a South team. It was a rivalry game so we had that added incentive all week in practice, too. This senior and junior class is dialed in on what needs to be done and they practice really hard. It shows up on the field.”
Whitehall was successful, at times, moving the ball in the first 24 minutes. The Zephyrs had two drives stall inside K-Kids’ 25 — the first a turnover on downs and the second an interception in the end zone.
Senior running back Nigel Linton went over the 1,000-yard milestone in the first half. He finished with 111 yards on 18 carries, including a 49-yard scoring sprint early in the final quarter.
Coach Matt Senneca’s Zephyrs finished the regular-season at 5-5 overall and 4-4 in EPC South play.
Playoff picture
Northampton and Whitehall will both play in the District 11 postseason, which begins next week.
The Konkrete Kids entered Friday night’s contest No. 3 in the Class 6A subregional standings. They likely will host a quarterfinal-round game at Al Erdosy Stadium. (Eight teams qualify for the 6A tournament.)
The Zephyrs were No. 2 in the district’s Class 5A standings going into Friday night’s game. They likely will play Pleasant Valley in a semifinal-round affair. (Four teams qualify in 5A.)