Dieruff ’s Rodriguez finishes with more than 1,500 yards passing

On Nov. 3, 2000, Josh Hinkle came off the bench and had one of the most memorable performances any quarterback has ever had in the Allen-Dieruff football rivalry.

Hinkle, a freshman, replaced injured starter Rich Ocelus at halftime with Dieruff trailing 21-0. He tossed for 102 yards and three touchdowns in the second half, including one in overtime and the Huskies rallied for a 28-21 win over the Canaries.

It wasn’t exactly the same set of heroics, but 2021 Dieruff quarterback Jovan Rodriguez also had an Allen-Dieruff game to remember. He threw for 291 yards and three scores and ran for 18 more yards and three TDs in the Huskies’ 49-12 win over the Canaries in the 65th meeting between Allentown’s public schools.

The performance was also good enough to give Rodriguez more than 1,500 yards passing this season, leaving him for now as the top passer in the EPC North.

East Stroudsdburg South’s Bobby McClosky is just 41 yards behind Rodriguez and will likely pass him against Wyoming Valley West in Friday’s District 2-11 subregional game.

But Rodriguez’s day along with a 5-reception, 99-yard day by receiver Christian Sell ended Dieruff ’s season on a high note.

Meanwhile, Pocono Mountain West’s Jaden Bowens enters the postseason with the most rushing yards reported in the EPC North and he’ll get a challenge from a stout Parkland defense in the District 11 6A quarterfinals Friday night.

Northampton continues to get big production from Caden Henritzy, Cooper King and Jaelen Richardson on offense, part of a historic 10-0 season so far for the Konkrete Kids who will go for their first-ever district playoff win Friday night against Pleasant Valley.

Here’s a look at the EPC North stat leaders through the regular season:

RUSHING Player, School, Att, Yards, Avg, TD

Jaden Bowens, PM West, 187, 1209, 6.5, 16 Andre Reames, Stroudsburg, 149, 1005, 6.7, 15 Clarence Watkins, Allen, 151, 953, 6.3, 12

Rob Papaleo, Pleas. Valley, 162, 916, 5.7, 12 Ron Blake, ES South, 113, 881, 7.8, 16

Caden Henritzy, Northampton, 148, 716, 4.8, 10

PASSING

Player, School, Com, Att, Int, Yards, Int

Jovan Rodriguez, Dieruff, 99, 183, 8, 1521, 10 Bobby McClosky, ES South, 102, 183, 9, 1480, 20 Cooper King, Northampton, 69, 113, 2, 1087, 14 Ethan Sodl, Stroudsburg, 52, 105, 6, 564, 3

Rob Papaleo, Pleas. Valley, 26, 60, 5, 454, 6 Isaiah Armand, PM West, 31, 52, 4, 419, 5 Clarence Watkins, Allen, 31, 73, 7, 373, 1

RECEIVING

Player, School, Rec, Yards, TD

Christopher Sell, Dieruff, 32, 708, 22.1, 6

Collin Burdian, ES South, 29, 480, 16.6, 9

Xavier Rodriguez, Dieruff, 20, 336, 16.8, 3

Jaelen Richardson, Northampton, 20, 313, 15.7, 3 Michael Lawrence, PM West, 20, 249, 12.5, 3

Ryan Blass, Pleas. Valley, 19, 389, 20.5, 4

Tristen Pinnock, Northampton, 18, 328, 18.2, 6 Rasu Wearing-Poindexter, PM East, 18, 170, 9.4, 1 Jose Amonte, ES South, 16, 395, 24.7, 7

Victor Hunt, Northampton, 14, 232, 16.6, 3

Nate Voorhis, Stroudsburg, 14, 120, 8.6, 0

Alex Hafler, PM East, 12, 90, 7.5, 1

SCORING

Player, School, TD, 2pt, PAT, FG, Points

Ron Blake, ESS, 17, 14, 0, 0, 130

Jaden Bowens, PM West, 16, 1, 0, 0, 98

Andre Reames, Stroudsburg, 15, 0, 0, 0, 90 Clarence Watkins, Allen, 12, 6, 0, 0, 84

Rob Papaleo, Pleas. Valley, 12, 0, 0, 0, 72

Caden Henritzy, Northampton, 10, 1, 0, 0, 62 Collin Burdian, ES South, 9, 00, 0, 52

Vince Santostefano, Northampton, 0, 0, 40, 3, 49 Gary Welge, ES South, 8, 0, 0, 0, 48

Dwight Harriston, Allen, 7, 2, 0, 0, 46

STANDINGS

Team, Division, All, PF, PA XY:Northampton, 8-0, 10-0, 365, 97 X:ES South, 7-1, 7-3, 401, 154

X:PM West, 6-2, 6-4, 215, 211 X:Pleasant Valley, 5-3, 5-4, 206, 164 Stroudsburg, 3-5, 4-6, 227, 229 Dieruff, 3-4, 3-6, 170, 278

PM East, 1-5, 1-7, 74, 385

Allen, 1-7, 1-9, 183, 432

ES North, 0-7, 0-9, 62, 556

Y: Won division championship. X: Clinched District 11berth