Hollywood’s Cutting Room Floor: Week#6 in The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
Tagged under: District 11, News, pfn
Brian Ptashinski | September 26, 2023
As we kickoff the second half of the regular season so much yet to decide as the District playoffs lie in the distance.
The Parkland Trojans have further solidified themselves as the front runners in the EPC South with a convincing win over previously unbeaten Allentown Central Catholic 35-14 that win came week after a 31-24 win over Nazareth. Parkland will be favorite in each of their games going forward, but as we know out the EPC you cannot overlook anyone as Whitehall takes their shot this wee and the Trojans still have Easton, Bethlehem Catholic and Emmaus to close out their campaign. Speaking of Ty Ward’s team at Bethlehem Catholic are definitely the surprise team in the South also at 5-0. The Golden Hawks weren’t even sure if they would have a season earlier in the year as talk of shutting down the program and even going as far as the entire school closing, but thankfully that did not happen to the storied program and they are thriving but have a brutal schedule coming down the stretch as games with at Emmaus, Bethelehem Freedom at Parkland at Nazareth and finally the “Holy War” at Allentown Central Catholic
Nazareth as well has some possible roadblocks on their path to a Conference championship as the Blue Eagles have Allentown Central Catholic this week and also have Whitehall and a surprising EPC North Contender Pleasant Valley and also Becahi and they close with rival Easton.
Northampton and Pleasant Valley are tied for the North Championship both at 4-1 and they will face-off on October 6th at Al Erdosy Stadium in Northampton. The Konkrete Kids should be favorite in the rest of their games, but do have to face Whitehall on October 27th. Pleasant Valley will have their next big challenge will be on October 13th at Andrew leh Stadium to face Nazareth.
With all that said let’s get back to the task at hand and get set for your week six schedule, but let’s look at this past week’s results first:
Parkland 35 Allentown Central Catholic 14
Bethlehem Catholic 20 Easton 19
Whitehall 29 Freedom 28 OT
Nazareth 42 Liberty 6
Emmaus 38- Louis Dieruff 0
Pleasant Valley 42 East Stroudsburg North 13
Northampton 48 East Stroudsburg South 0
Stroudsburg 33 Pocono Mtn East 6
Pocono Mtn West 49 William Allen 14
THIS WEEK’S CONTESTS:
4-1 NORTHAMPTON KONKRETE KIDS at 0-5 WILLIAM ALLEN CANARIES FRIDAY 7PM J. BIRNEY CRUM STADIUM
Allen lost to PMW 49-14 and Northampton shutout ESS 48-0
Three interceptions for Allen hurt in their loss though Austin Snyder did throw for over 100 yards mainly to Ja Allen and Jamier Thomas aginst Pocono Mtn West. Northampton was led by RB Caden Henritzy who had 160 yards on just eight touches. and a couple of scores and became the school’s all time leading rusher with 2,768 yards topping Tyrese Brandon’s record set in 2019 with 2,767 yards. This should be over by halftime K-kids 49-0
1-4 EAST STROUDSBURG NORTH TIMBERWOLVES at 2-3 STROUDSBURG MOUNTAINEERS FRIDAY &PM
ESN lost to PLeasant Valley 42-13 Stroudsburg defeated PME 33-6
The bright spots for the Timberwolves has been Nathaniel Clay who has rushed for over 400 yards and four touchdowns. Romeo Carmen-King and Wayne King have combined for 280 yards rushing. THe Mountaineers have played the toughest part of their schedule and are on the cutoff line for a district playoff spot at the time of this column. Expect the Mounties to roll on 38-12
1-4 POCONO MOUNTAIN EAST CARDINALS at 0-5 LOUIS DIERUFF HUSKIES SATURDAY 7PM J.BIRNEY CRUN STADIUM
PME lost to Stroudsburg 33-6 and Dieruff dropped a 38-0 decision to Emmaus.
The Cardinals averaged a dismal 2 yards/carry against Stroudsburg 93 yards on 41 touches and one score by Russ Wearing-Poindexter and were 1 of four passing for just 4 yards. Dieruff didn’t fair much better against a good Emmaus squad last Thursday. Thoughts of a Huskies win Saturday 14-12.
1-4 EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH CAVALIERS at 1-4 BETHLEHEM FREEDOM PATRIOTS FRIDAY 7PM BASD STADIUM
South were shutout by Northampton 48-0 and Freedom lost another heart-breaker 29-28 to Whitehall in overtime
South is struggling to put up points as they only have 79 in total with 47 coming against Allen. Nathan Gray picked up just over 50 yards against Northampton on 20 carries. Freedom may be the best 1-4 team in the area and are hoping to make it to their fourth straight District title game, but first the must qualify and I think their run starts this week with two tough OT losses to ACC and Whitehall and playing Nazareth tough in a 42-26 loss and actually had the lead in that game. Freedom rolls 42-7.
3-2 POCONO MOUNTAIN WEST PANTHERS at 4-1 PLEASANT VALLEY BEARS FRIDAY &PM
PMW took down William Allen 49-14 while Pleasant Valley easily defeated ESN 42-13
The Panthers are on a three game win streak and gained over 311 yards on the ground over Allen. Bears RB Alex Ecker gained 155 yards and scored twice on North. QB Valentino Byers-Robinson also found the end zone on two occasions last week. Pleasant Valley got to stay up with Northampton for a EPC North title and a high seeed in the 5A district playoffs come November. This could be one of the best games of the weekend PV takes it 20-14
2-3 BETHLEHEM LIBERTY HURRICANES at 2-3 EASTON RED ROVERS FRIDAY 7PM COTTINGHAM SRADIUM
Liberty were drubbed by Nazareth 42-6 and Easton down 20-0 to Becahi rallied back only to lose 20-19
Big plays were the achilles heel for the Hurricanes as the Blue Eagles of Nazareth took advantage of the porous defense. Easton had a chance to knock off unbeaten Bethlehem Catholic on a two-point conversion. QB Cole Ordway passed for over 200 yards and a couple of scores. WR Collin Torres had an 89 yard touchdown reception. EASTON GETS THE NOD 28-14.
5-0 BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC GOLDEN HAWKS at 2-3 EMMAUS GREEN HORNETS FRIDAY &PM EPSD STADIUM
Becahi narrowly escaped a valiant Easton effort with a 20-19 win. Emmaus shutout Dieruff 38-0
Even without QB Josiah Williams i the lineup, Emmaus dominated the Huskies without much resistance. Emmaus was tested by the Red Rovers after going out to a 20-0 after three quarters and survived, a fourth quarter rally to stay unbeaten. Bethlehem Catholic stays perfect but won’t be easy 24-21.
4-1 WHITEHALL ZEPHYRS at 5-0 PARKLAND TROJANS OREFIELD MIDDLE SCHOOL STADIUM FRIDAY 7PM
Whitehall outlasted Freedom 29-28 in overtime. Parkland upended Central Catholic 35-14
Whitehall is another feel good story going 4-1 in the first half of the season with a first year head coach Andy Marino. The Zephys now though get into the heart of their schedule with Parkland, Nazareth, Central Catholic and Northampton still ahead. Parkland just keeps rolling behind Trey Tremba and and Luke Spang. The Trojans amassed over 500 yards of total offense against Allentown Central Catholic last week. Spang tossed for 280 yards and two scores.Tremba picked up almost 190 yards rushing and another two scores. Look for the Trojans to stay unbeaten 36-17
4-1 ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS at 4-1 NAZARETH BLUE EAGLES FRIDAY &PM ANDREW LEH STDIUM
ACC lost to Parkland 35-14 and Nazareth got back in the win column 42-6 over Liberty
The Vikings defense were exposed by Parkland last week for over 500 yards and the Trojan defense pressured Antonio Fontenez much of the night. The Blue Eagles had their way with Liberty, Mason Kuehner caught six balls for nearly 100 yards. Marquez Wimberly returned to the lineup after being hurt against Parkland. Wimberly rushed for 105 yards on just three carries and also found the end zone twice. Nazareth stays on track 34-20.
Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews
You must be logged in to post a comment.