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Parkland dominates 2nd half en route to convincing victory over Allentown Central Catholic

Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News

| September 23, 2023

Allentown-  In what was to be a clash of EPC titans, the first half sure lived up to that billing.  Parkland received the opening kickoff and after getting a first down on a Luke Spang (6 rush, 37 yards, 1 TD) rush were stifled on 4th down of the next set of downs by a stout Vikings defense.  Central Catholic quarterback Anthony Fontanez (19-22, 82 yards, TD, INT)wasted no time as he found DJ Kelly in the flat who proceeded to brake numerous tackles en route to the endzone, giving the Vikings and early 7-0 lead after a successful PAT.

Taking the field after the ensuing kickoff, Parkland quarterback Luke Spang (14-23, 278 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT) wasted no time with the Trojan’s answer in finding his running back Trey Tremba on a go route for a 65 yard strike to tie the game at 7.

The remainder of the first quarter saw both defenses standing tall and not allowing either offense to get anything going. These defensive stands were highlighted by a great read and interception by the Vikings defensive back Armonie Torres who stepped in front of a Trojan wideout and picked off Spang with just over a minute left in the first quarter.

Three and out series were becoming abundant with the field position game coming to the forefront.  The only outlier in this would be due to  Parkland’s Luke Spang who was able to find WR Jendel Sanchez along the Parkland sideline who was finally brought down at the Central Catholic 9 yardline by the Vikings Jareel Calhoun (3 rec, 57 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT).  The Vikings defense would keep them out of the endzone and then cap off their defensive stand by partially blocking a Trojan field goal attempt causing it to go wide left and keeping the game tied at 7 as halftime approached.  On the ensuing drive the Vikings would go 3 and out which set up Parkland with great field position just on their own side of the 50.  Spang and the Trojan’s offense took advantage of the favorable field position and in just 4 plays were able to cash in with Luke finding WR Connor Johns(2 rec, 48 yds, TD) for a Parkland touchdown which extended their lead t0 14-7 with just over 3 minutes left in the first half.

The Parkland defense would once again come up big and shut down the Viking offense for the remainder of the half.  Then, on what seemed to be the last possession of the half, Spang was intercepted again by the Vikings defense.  This time, it was DJ Kelly who was able to end the Trojan offensive threat by picking off the Trojan QB at the Central Catholic 1 yardline with under a minute left to play in the first half.  The Viking offense would run out the remainder of the clock on the first half and go in the locker room down 14-7.

The second half would be dominated mainly by the Trojan offense.  After forcing a punt by Allentown Central Catholic on their opening drive of the 2nd half, the Trojans leaned heavily on workhorse running back Trey Tremba.  Tremba,who on his 7th rush of the drive, finally found pay-dirt on a 22 yard run which saw him tight-roping the sideline which put Parkland up 20-7 after a missed extra point.

The ensuing Vikings drive would come to a screeching halt after an errant Fontanez pass was plucked out of the air by Trojan defensive back Parker Kusko.  The Trojan offense was stymied once again by the Viking defense who force them to punt.  The punt was fair caught at the Viking 2 yard line which put the Central Catholic offense in a really bad spot with the Parkland defense looking to get some points of their own.  This did not take long for them to accomplish as they forced Vikings qb Antonio Fontanez to be called for intentional grounding in his own endzone resulting in a safety for the Trojans which put them up 22-7 with 11:52 left in the game.

A few exchanged possessions later, Parkland quarterback Luke Spang found an opening in the Viking’s defense and scampered 44 yards for a touchdown putting the Trojans up 29-7 with just over 8 minutes left in the game.

The Vikings may have been down, but they certainly were not going down with out a fight. On the ensuing drive Vikings freshman quarterback Patrick Cahill found a streaking Jareel Calhoun for a touchdown which cut the deficit to 15 (29-14) with just over 5 minutes left in the game.

The Trojan offense responded immediately with a huge 62 yard run by Trey Tremba to put the Trojans back up by 21 (35-14) with 5:24 left in the game. On the ensuing drive, the Parkland defense would shut down the desperate Viking offense and hand the ball back to their offense to run out the clock and wrap up the game. The final score from J. Birney Crumb Stadium in Allentown, Vikings 14 – Trojans 35.

After the game I was able to catch up with Trojan quarterback Luke Spang who when asked about the offensive struggles in the first half said ” I was just trying to do to much, not just sticking to my job. In the 2nd half we came out and did our jobs and showed that if we do play a full 48 minutes nobody can hang with us”.  When I asked him about what he saw on his long run near the end of the game he said “It was and inside zone, I got a pull read and the defensive end made a good play and I just had to be an athlete and make something happen and it turned in to a touchdown.” Lastly, when I brought up the remainder of the season he said “We still have Whitehall who is a very good team, Emmaus, and Becahi who are all good teams and we just need to keep grinding and take it one week at a time.”

Next I was able to get a few words from Trojan running back Trey Tremba who when asked about the changes made at halftime to overcome the slow start on offense said ” We started off slow in the first half, defense was playing great.  We had to change a couple of things on the o-line at half, had a few guys step up this week who just needed to get the feel. We stepped it up in the 2nd half.” When I asked him about his long touchdown reception to start the game he said”We just had one guy over me one on one, it was a vert and Spang was able to get it to me.” I then asked him about how this sets this team up for the rest of the year he said “We’re super excited, our goal for the season is to go 10-0, but we’re just going to keep taking it week by week.  Next week we have Whitehall who is a tough team.  Guys are going to keep getting banged up so other guys are going to need to keep stepping up for us”

After talking to who many consider the 2 stars of this Parkland team, I was able to find head football coach Tim Moncman who when asked about how game planning for this Vikings defense said “In the beginning we were meshing with a new offensive line due to a few injuries, we were making a bunch of mistakes in the first half and were able to settle down in the 2nd.”

This win brings Parkland to 5-0 on the season. The Zephyrs of Whitehall(4-1), winners of an overtime matchup vs Freedom tonight,  will come knocking next weekend in Orefield looking to knock the Trojans off their seat atop the EPC.  With this loss, Allentown Central Catholic falls to 4-1 on the year and will be heading to Nazareth(4-1) whos is fresh off a victory over Liberty.

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