Homecoming for S. Lehigh
By Saturday night, every Lehigh Valley high school football team will be halfway through its regular-season schedule.
One will finally have enjoyed its first true home game of 2019.
Undefeated Southern Lehigh makes its debut at Southern Lehigh Middle School when it faces Palisades in a Colonial League game Friday night.
The Spartans turned one home game (Palmerton) into a road contest and played another (Notre Dame-Green Pond) at Quakertown’s Alumni Field over the first four weeks while they waited for new grass to grow at their field, which became unplayable over the summer.
“Anytime you’re going on a bus trip for five straight weeks, including our scrimmage, it’s going to be great to be back,” coach John Toman said. “For the players to play on their home field is great for them. It’s great for the community and student body to be back in the home stadium.”
Southern Lehigh’s homecoming isn’t the only story we’re tracking this week. Here’s what else bears watching for Week 5 of the high school football season.
Stefanik’s streak: Senior safety Nathan Stefanik has intercepted at least one pass in each of Nazareth’s first four games. He already has seven picks, the second-best single-season total in Blue Eagles history.
Bethlehem Catholic will try to keep Stefanik from extending his streak Friday.
Best bet: Freedom won’t match the 11 penalties for 94 yards it piled up against Nazareth when it visits Whitehall on Friday. Patriots coach Jason Roeder was disgusted with the undisciplined mistakes that derailed his team last week. He won’t tolerate a repeat. Best start: Several head coaches are in their first year, but only one has a chance to hit the halfway mark of the season without losing.
That’s East Stroudsburg South’s Matt Walters, whose Cavaliers are coming off a 21-0 win over Stroudsburg and face an Allen team looking to bounce back from a disappointing 35-18 loss to Pocono Mountain West after leading 18-14 at halftime.
Best chance: Two more new head coaches, Dieruff’s Dave Lutte, and Pleasant Valley’s Blaec Saeger, have their best chance at getting a win since the 0-4 Huskies play at the 0-4 Bears.
Scheduling quirk: Three teams use Allentown’s J. Birney Crum Stadium as their home and in a scheduling quirk, all three are on the road. In fact, Allen, Central Catholic, and Dieruff aren’t even playing in a neighboring county. Joining Dieruff in Monroe County will be the Canaries who visit East Stroudsburg South. The Vikings have an even longer trip into Pike County to take on East Stroudsburg North. Series finales: Four of the six Colonial League matchups this weekend, Palisades-Southern Lehigh, Pen Argyl-Palmerton, Saucon Valley-Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua-Wilson aren’t scheduled in 2020 or 2021 in the new Colonial-Schuylkill League scheduling co-op. Of those series ending, the longest is between Catty and Wilson, who have met 50 times. The Roughies lead the series 35-15 and got their only win in 2018 over the Warriors (37-34).
Games to watch all games Friday at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted
EPC SOUTH
Bethlehem Catholic (3-1 overall, 2-1 EPC South) at Nazareth (4-0, 3-0): Bethlehem Catholic earned the eye-popping win of Week 4 by blasting Parkland 44-7. The Golden Hawks impressed on the offensive line, keeping the Trojans’ front at bay while amassing 408 yards of total offense.
Bethlehem Catholic’s O-line returns to center stage against a Nazareth front that has excelled during a 4-0 start. The Blue Eagles have 19 sacks.
Emmaus (3-1, 1-1) at Easton (4-0, 2-0): See how the Green Hornets and Red Rovers run when they square off Friday. Easton’s Nahjee Adams and Emmaus’ Brandon Camire rank 1-2 in the EPC South rushing race. Can either defense limit the explosive plays Adams and Camire have produced through the opening month?
Parkland (2-2, 1-2) at Liberty (2-2, 0-2): Parkland and Liberty suffered mercy-rule losses by identical 44-7 scores last week. Which team bounces back? Parkland’s health on the offensive line bears watching. The Trojans have played without Penn State recruit Nick Dawkins for three weeks and have used multiple centers due to injuries.
EPC NORTH
Northampton (3-1, 3-0) at Pocono Mountain West (1-3, 1-2), Saturday 12 p.m.: This Saturday afternoon game provides the Konkrete Kids with its first major test since playing Parkland in Week 1. Northampton outscored foes 165-21 during its three-game win streak, but those opponents are a combined 0-12.
Poc. Mt. East (1-3, 1-1) at Stroudsburg (2-2, 2-1): This one is crucial to both teams’ District 11 playoff chances. The Mounties, blanked by South last week, have been shut out three times in their last eight games dating back to a pair of shutout losses to Parkland in the second half of last season. The Cardinals have scored 28 points in consecutive games after back-toback shutout losses.
COLONIAL LEAGUE
Saucon Valley (3-1) at Northern Lehigh (3-1): The Panthers have been rolling since a 45-13 opening-night loss to Southern Lehigh. The Bulldogs are 3-1 for the second straight year but now would like to flip the script since they lost four of their five after the fast start in 2018.
Bangor (2-2) at Northwestern Lehigh (3-1): The Tigers have won three straight since losing on opening night but will need to tighten up a defense that gave up nearly 300 yards on offense to Wilson. The Tigers’ coverage team also gave up another kickoff return for a score.
Catasauqua (0-4) at Wilson (1-3), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.: Warriors senior Alec Snyder is not only one of the area’s best wrestlers with a second-place finish at districts, but he’s also all over the football field. In the loss to Northwestern last week, Snyder carried 10 times for 40 yards and was involved in 17 tackles, including eight solo stops.