Games worth remembering
District 11 has produced a number of unforgettable contests through the years
Once upon a time, there were no District 11 playoffs.
Teams played their regular seasons, league champs were crowned, season-ending rivalry games meant everything, and a select few were fortunate to get to celebrate community pride with Thanksgiving Day games. And that was it.
No one really thought about district championships until they began in 1984 with the idea of giving football players the same golden opportunities basketball, field hockey, soccer, softball and tennis players already had for years.
“I’m really excited about having the playoffs,” then-Pen Argyl coach Roy Cortez told The Morning Call before coaching in one of the first championship games. “It gives everyone a chance to play within their class. It’s good for the district ... a fine showplace.”
The importance of that showplace has grown over the years, often overshadowing the regular season.
Liberty (3A), Catasauqua (2A) and Pen Argyl (A) were the first three champions.
The first championship game was held on Nov. 16, 1984, and Catasauqua won it with a 31-14 victory over Wilson as Chris Miller threw four TD passes — two each to Scott Bufton and future major-league baseball player Pat Kelly. The next day, Liberty beat previously undefeated Lehighton 24-6 before 8,500 fans at J. Birney Crum Stadium, as Danny Warren ran for 156 yards and two TDs. Pen Argyl blanked Notre Dame 34-0 for the A title as Scott Saylor ran for 193 yards and two scores.
A fourth classification was added in 1989 and two more classes were included in 2016. In all, 148 championships have been crowned, including Whitehall this year in 5A.
Along the way, dozens of memorable district games have been played. Here are 11 of them that stand out, in chronological order:
1987 District 11 2A finals: Bangor 28, Becahi 7
It was one of the coldest nights ever for a district playoff game, and the unbeaten Slaters warmed the hearts of their fans with a dominant effort at Catasauqua’s
Alumni Field to finish off a perfect season for Paul Farnan. Joe Emrick, who is now a state representative, blocked a Becahi punt and recovered it in the end zone for a TD. He also had a hand in eight sacks.
1988 District 11 3A finals:Pocono Mountain 20, Easton 17
Even though Frank Scagliotta’s Cardinals were 11-0 and Centennial League champs, they were decided underdogs against Easton, especially before a raucous Red Rovers crowd of 10,000 at Cottingham Stadium. Easton led 17-14 and was driving to put the game away when Eric Dial intercepted a Red Rover pitchout to stop the drive and give the Cardinals another chance. Dave Smith kicked the game-tying fieldgoal and then booted another one in OT to deliver one of the biggest wins in Monroe County football history.
1992 District 11 4A finals:Allen 14, Dieruff7
One week after playing the Allentown version of the Super Bowl, a battle for the East Penn Conference title won by Dieruff 32-27, the Canaries and Huskies met again for the only district title either has ever won. It was a much different game played in front of far fewer fans — about 5,000, compared to 14,000 the week before. Future Super Bowl champ Nate Hobgood-Chittick played a significantrole on both sides of the ball for Allen. Chris Mason scored two TDs and the Allen defense held off a late Dieruffcharge.
1994 District 11 3A finals:Central Catholic 28, Becahi 6
One week earlier, the Vikings and Golden Hawks had met before 15,000 at Bethlehem Area School District in a much-anticipated battle of the unbeatens for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship. The defending state champion Vikings won that one 42-28 in an offensive shootout. In the rematch at J. Birney Crum Stadium, Central’s defense, led by Marc Lapadula, Harold Fairclough, Mike Cerimele, Willy Edwards and others, smothered Becahi quarterback Dan Kendra and limited a potent Golden Hawks offenseto one score.
1996 District 11 4A semis: Dieruff47, East Stroudsburg 25
The defending district champions had James Mungro and lots of playoffexperience. But Dieruffhad Tosh Riddick and Matt Marcks and that was the difference in an upset win by the Huskies. Marcks scored three TDs, one on a fumble return and two on passes from Rocky Butler. Riddick ran for 241 yards on 41 carries and scored three TDs. In the final game of his Cavaliers career, Mungro was held to 112 yards on 17 carries, his lowest rushing total in three seasons. He ended his career with 8,427 yards rushing and 114 touchdowns.
1997 District 11 4A finals:Whitehall 21, Parkland 10
Dan Koppen was a two-time Super Bowl champion with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. In the NFL, the only time he touched the ball was when he snapped it to Brady. However, in this title game, he carried the ball twice into the end zone out of what Zephyrs coach Tony Cocca called his “Fatso package.” Whitehall got 162 yards rushing from James Freeman in knocking offthe defending champion Trojans.
2000 District 11 4A finals:Becahi 65, Easton 0
When several members of the East Penn Conference left for the Mountain Valley Conference in 1998, five schools were left behind Allen, Bethlehem Catholic, Central Catholic, Dieruffand Emmaus. Becahi was in the middle of the controversy. The Golden Hawks, coached by the legendary Bob Stem, felt teams were running away so they didn’t have to play them. Becahi played its first three games against Mullen, Colorado, Brooklyn’s Poly Prep and Moeller of Ohio. Then they moved up in class and whipped Nazareth 47-0 in the 4A semis before routing the Red Rovers for the title behind Eddie Scipio’s four touchdowns.
2012 District 11 2A finals:Pen Argyl 26, Catasauqua 20
The Rough Riders rolled past the Green Knights 48-21 in mid-October. But in the rematch a month later, Pen Argyl’s Mike Racciato made a juggling catch of a 30-yard TD pass from Nick Oyer with 2:01 remaining and then Ryan Lobb preserved the victory with an interception in the end zone with 41 seconds left as Pen Argyl stunned unbeaten Catty and won its second straight district gold under Paul Reduzzi.
2015 District 11 3A semis: Saucon Valley 14, Becahi 6
Not since 2006 had a Colonial League team beaten an EPC or Lehigh Valley Conference team in the playoffs.Making Saucon even more of an underdog was the fact that Becahi pounded the Panthers 49-7 in the district finalthe previous year, but this one was completely different from the 2014 game. Evan Culver broke around right end for a 68-yard TD run, Zach Thatcher had a 60-yard kickoffreturn that set up his short TD pass to Alstan Wolfe and the rest of the day belonged to the Saucon defense.
2019 District 11 6A final:Nazareth 22, Parkland 21
With both teams struggling to stop the other in OT, Nazareth went for the win after scoring a touchdown. Braden Mehlig took the direct snap and pitched it to Nathan Stefanik, who was circling from left to right in the backfield.Stefanik was originally supposed to throw the ball to quarterback Anthony Harris, but Harris wasn’t in Stefanik’s vision. Instead, Stefanik found Jaiden Cabrera in the back of the end zone for the points that made Nazareth district champs for the first time since 2011.