Whitehall O-line powers Zephyrs’ potent attack
Whitehall was not picked very high in any of the preseason football polls back in the summer.
The reason?
The Zephyrs lost the lion’s share of their offense from 2021. Running back Damonte Foreman, who ran for 889 yards and scored 14 touchdowns, graduated. So did quarterback Quinn Wentling, who ran for 264 yards and passed for 441 yards. The receiving corps of Ryan Kovalchick, Devin Donatelli, and Bryce Bashore also moved on.
But what Whitehall did return was an experienced offensive line.
The O-line became the driving force behind a team that has exceeded the expectations of everyone but themselves and finds itself one of the final eight Class 5A squads left in Pennsylvania scholastic football.
The Zephyrs beat both District 11 4A champ Allentown Central Catholic and 6A champ Parkland during the regular season and have put together a three-game winning streak in a postseason that included their own district title and a PIAA tournament win over District 2 champ Delaware Valley.
Whitehall would like to pull off one more surprise at 1 p.m. Saturday when it takes on District 12 juggernaut Imhotep Charter at the Germantown Supersite in Philadelphia.
The Zephrys will again count on the guys up front to set the tone against an Imhotep squad that has allowed just 6.7 points per game in an 8-2 season.
“Everyone counted us out in the beginning, but we’ve been playing really well and proved them all wrong,” said left tackle Joseph Hahn. “We want to keep going and don’t want to be done playing together. We’re not the biggest or fastest, but we’re physical.”
“When we play together, we definitely have our best games,” left guard Carter Hudak said. “We’ve just got to keep pushing forward. We knew coming into this season that we’d have to hold our own and open everything up and give our quarterback [Trey Dogmanits] time to throw and our receivers time to get open.”
Thanks in large part to the O-line Dogmanits, a junior, has thrown for 1,954 yards and 21 touchdowns and Nigel Linton has rushed for 1,394 yards and 19 scores. Whitehall is averaging 27.5 points per game.
Logan Headman moved from guard to center this season and was happy to make the move to bring everything together.
“We needed a center and even though I played guard the last two seasons, I thought I’d go back there because I played center for eight years when I was younger,” Headman said.
Jack Jacobus, the right guard, said chemistry has developed and that has led to a more cohesive, finely tuned unit that will need to be at its best against Imhotep.
“We’ve had a lot of hard-fought games and this will be another one,” Jacobus said. “We’re just going to try our hardest and try to have some fun like we always do.”
Offensive line coach Pete Kreisher said his guys are fun to coach.
“They have overcome a lot of obstacles,” Kreisher said. “They’re definitely not the biggest group. Except for the right tackle [6-foot-5 Ethan Guzenski] they’re all pretty short and they’re not too heavy. They’ve just done well using their strengths, which are leverage and speed. Every week we seem
to be going against big defensive fronts and yet these guys find ways to move them. They fight hard and take pride in their work.”
Kreisher said that one of the O-line’s best efforts came in a loss to Emmaus.
“Emmaus has a great defensive line that puts a lot of pressure on quarterbacks and we didn’t give up any sacks against them,” he said. “All year we’ve done a great job of picking up blitzes and not allowing too many clean hits on the quarterback. Last week, Delaware Valley was big and strong and had some big-time recruits and we took it to them. We punched them in the mouth and I don’t think they had seen that before and we wore them down. You could tell by the end of the game we were able to do what we wanted.”
In the 34-13 win Whitehall had 346 yards on offense and terrific balance with 167 yards rushing and 179 passing. Dogmanits threw for 179 yards and Linton ran for 149.
Everyone involved knows Imhotep will be a more daunting task.
“They have four really good kids with some great motors,” Kreisher said. “One of them [Semaj Bridgeman] is a linebacker who has committed to Michigan. So, they’re
going to be tough but our kids have just looked at it as a fun challenge. Realistically, they’re going to have to play their best game to beat them. We’ve seen a lot of Imhotep film where teams try to outmaneuver them but our kids are excited to match their intensity and see what we can do.”
Either way, they’ve had the opportunity to spend another week together and extend the season and careers.
Only Guzenski is back on the O-line next season.
“This season has meant everything to all of us,” Jacobus said. “We don’t stop. We have a bad game and we just pick our heads up and get right back at them. The hard work all of us have put in has translated to the field.”
Headman said that the bonds that have been formed just didn’t start at Whitehall.
“We all played together when we were younger playing for either the Fullerton Ramblers or the Hokey Eagles and we all came together on the same team in seventh grade and have been together ever since,” Headman said. “We’ve overcome a ton of adversity going back to last year’s district final and we’ve also had a lot of success together. We hope we can stay together a while longer.”