When it comes to at least two of the District 11 football playoff games involving Eastern Pennsylvania Conference teams, it will a trip down memory lane … all the way back to Oct. 27.
On that Friday night – the final Friday of the EPC regular season – Allentown Central Catholic beat Bethlehem Catholic 24-14 and Parkland topped Emmaus 41-17.
Two weekends later, the same teams meet again but with much larger stakes.
The Vikings and Golden Hawks will meet at 6 p.m. Saturday in the District 11 Class 4A championship game and unlike the previous meeting, which occurred at J. Birney Crum Stadium, this one unfolds at Whitehall.
A night earlier in the District 11 6A semifinals, Emmaus makes a return trip on Route 309 to Orefield where the Green Hornets get a second crack at unbeaten and state-ranked Parkland.
Continuing the Throwback Weekend theme, Whitehall and Southern Lehigh meet in the District 11 5A playoffs for the sixth time in eight seasons and stage a rematch in the finals where the Zephyrs prevailed 43-17 last year.
If familiarity breeds contempt, the animosity should be on overdrive in most of these matchups.
Any rematch during the course of a season poses an extra layer of preparation, but when the games happen just two weeks apart, it adds even more to a potential cat-and-mouse game between staffs and how to motivate your kids depending on whether you won or lost the first meeting.
“You have to do the best you can to erase the first game from the kids’ minds,” Parkland coach Tim Moncman said. “I’ve told them Week 10 never happened. We’re in the second season and we’re just trying to get step 2 taken care of. With 27 seniors on our team, I think our kids are smart enough to know this one is going to be a battle.”
Moncman said both sides will tweak something and want to show you something different.
“In that sense, it will become a chess match or a guessing game,” Moncman said. “The first time we played them they ran a lot of empty formations against us. Will they do that again? You try to get in their minds a little bit and try to figure out what they might be doing.”
Emmaus coach Harold Fairclough said it’s hard to change things too much this late in the season.
“At this point of the season, you do what you do,” he said. “You also add some tweaks and adjustments. I look back at film and see what we didn’t take advantage of the first time we played them and also what we did well and try to figure out some wrinkles we can add in all three phases of the game.”
Fairlcough and Moncman, along with Central Catholic’s Rob Melosky have all won state titles and have been in big November games before. They know how to make adjustments and how to prepare for changes the other side might make.
“The coaching in this conference is one of the reasons why the conference is so great along with the players,” Fairclough said. “You know there’s going to be good adjustments made.”
Melosky said the game film from the previous meeting doesn’t lie.
“They see what happened and they now have the opportunity to to see the personnel we had on the field and what we did at certain positions and conversely, so do we,” he said. “The neat part about a rematch like this is seeing what adjustments can be made or preventing the adjustments they are going to make based on what you showed them in the first meeting.”
In the first meeting, Becahi had a lot of success running the ball.
“They have two explosive runners and they had some success against us and that’s something we’ll be more prepared for this time around,” Melosky said. “It still comes down to the kids and we have a lot of kids with experience. … That means a lot.”
ACCHS has had to adjust to playing without two guys who played in the previous Becahi game and all season in Luke Shimko and DJ Kelly. Both of them are sidelined by the PIAA eligibility rule for transfers.
Melosky said his staff knew it was going to happen and played some other guys in those spots down the stretch to get them ready for the postseason.
“Our job as coaches is to give the other kids a chance to prepare,” Melosky said. “You can’t just wait and worry about it come playoff time and just put another kid in there. You give those kids time to get ready. So, you will see people out there playing for us who weren’t starters in Week 1 or Week 2, but we need them to be ready to play now.”
Becahi’s first-year coach Tyler Ward, who has already gone through the most drastic ups-and-downs any coach can encounter in a season with a five-game winning streak followed by five straight losses, said it’s a matter of fixing the mistakes made in the first game against ACCHS.
“It is a little bit of a chess match and a matter of a few tweaks,” he said. “Nobody at this point of the season is able to make wholesale changes. It’s about adjustments and moving those chess pieces around. So, it’s fun. Being the team that lost the first go-around, we’re obviously excited about having another crack at them. Last year, our kids won the regular-season game and they won the district title game. We hope we can flip the script and this year, as I’ve been saying to people, they may have won the battle, but we’re going to go on and win the war.”
Here’s a look at the four district matchups involving EPC teams:
District 11 4A championship
Who: No. 3 seed Bethlehem Catholic (6-5) vs. No. 1 Allentown Central Catholic (9-2)
When/where: 6 p.m. Saturday at Whitehall
At stake: Winner will host the District 4 champion, either Selinsgrove or Jersey Shore, on either Nov. 17 or 18.
Storylines: These are two of the most historically successful programs in local high school football. ACCHS has won 14 district titles; Becahi 10. They have also combined for five state titles. This year, the Vikings have been dominant from the start and posted early come-from-behind overtime wins over Northampton and Freedom and beat Emmaus on a 51-yard field goal. Becahi won its first five games, then lost five in a row before snapping the skid with a 14-0 semifinal win over Blue Mountain. ACCHS won last year’s meeting in the district final, beating Becahi 14-3.
Players to watch: Becahi will rely on Jacob Sutton, a senior who has run for 913 yards, the third-highest total in the EPC South. ACCHS counters with one of the most explosive passing attacks in the area led by sophom*ore quarterback Antonio Fontanez, who became the first EPC quarterback to throw for more than 2,000. Central had three of the top seven receivers in the EPC South in Jareel Calhoun, Aidan Sorrentino and DJ Kelly.
What to expect: A highly competitive game between talented senior-oriented teams who want to make the most of their last chance. While a lot of focus will be on the defenses, the defenses have been strong when needed. Becahi is allowing just 15 points per game; ACCHS 18.9
Keith Groller’s prediction: Central Catholic 20-14
District 11 Class 5A championship
Who: No. 2 Whitehall (7-4) vs. No. 1 Southern Lehigh (10-1)
When/where: 7 p.m. Friday at Catasauqua
At stake: Winner will travel to the District 2 champ, either Delaware Valley or Abington Heights, on either Nov. 17 or 17.
Storylines: Whitehall is going for its fifth title in 5A since the PIAA expanded the classifications to six in 2016, and its eighth overall. Southern Lehigh is going for its second D11 crown after winning in 2019. Whitehall has dominated the series, winning five straight postseason games since 2016 and only one of them was decided by single digits, a 42-34 Zephyrs win the 2020 semifinals. The Zephyrs bounced back from a three-game losing streak with three straight wins. Southern Lehigh bounced back from a 42-14 loss to Northwestern Lehigh in its regular-season finale to rout East Stroudsburg South 56-19 in the semifinals.
Players to watch: The Zephyrs, who average 26.5 points per game, feature good balance with a running game led by Dalton Wickel and Carter Troxell who have combined for more than 1,100 yards rushing and a passing attack led by Trey Dogmanits, who has thrown for 1,689 yards. The Spartans also feature balance with a running game sparked by Cade Sawyer, who has 1,495 yards and 30 TDs and an aerial attack led by Christopher Fritts, who has run for 1,631 and 19 TDs.
What to expect: One of the highest scoring games of the weekend. Whitehall will likely have to get turnovers to slow down a Spartans attack that averages 402.4 yards and 46.1 points per game. The Zephyrs have played a stronger schedule, but this may be the best Southern Lehigh team they have faced in the 5A playoffs.
Keith Groller’s prediction: Southern Lehigh 35-31
District 11 6A semifinal
Who: No. 5 Emmaus (6-5) at No. 1 Parkland (11-0)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
At stake: A berth in the district final Nov. 17 against either Nazareth or Northampton.
Storylines: It’s a rematch of a game Parkland won 41-17 two weeks ago. The Green Hornets were able to win a rematch with Freedom last week, stunning the Patriots, 19-14, behind a gritty defensive effort and some big plays on offense from Jerek Cooper and Josiah Williams. The Trojans had little trouble dispatching Williamsport 56-0 as both teams return to the semifinal round.
Players to watch: This game features the EPC South’s offensive player of the year, Parkland’s Trey Tremba, going against the defensive player of the year in Emmaus’ Mario Landino. However, both teams have other players who could play a pivotal role with Parkland’s Jake Beidleman and the Green Hornets’ Robert Edwards among the league’s top defensive players Connor Johns (Parkland) and Rafael Terrero (Emmaus) among the more dangerous pass-catching threats. Two key linemen for Parkland, Kale Kumernitsky and Owen Broadhead are back after missing most of the season with injuries.
What to expect: Emmaus has some confidence after a win over Freedom and will try to control the clock and keep Parkland’s explosive offense off the field as much as possible. Ultimately, though, the Trojans may just have too many weapons.
Keith Groller’s prediction: Parkland 42-21
District 11 6A semifinal
Who: No. 3 Northampton (9-2) at No. 2 Nazareth (10-1)
When: 7 p.m. Friday
At stake: A berth in the district title title game against either Emmaus or Parkland
Storylines: Once again, Northampton is in position to show everyone it has arrived as a title-contending program after tough semifinals losses the past two years to Freedom and Parkland. Nazareth has had to block out everyone talking about a potential rematch with Parkland in the district final. The unknown here is the health of K-Kids’ star running back Caden Henritzy who was taken off the field in last week’s game against Stroudsburg with an ankle injury. If he can’t go at 100% , Northampton’s chances for an upset will grow much larger.
Players to watch: The K-Kids’ have a playmaker on the perimeter in Tristen Pinnock, who could be a pass-catching threat. The Blue Eagles’ have a solid quarterback in sophom*ore Peyton Falzone and plenty of weapons around him (Jed Bendekovits, Mason Kuehner, Logan Hilarczyk, Sean Kinney) to take the pressure off.
What to expect: Northampton will give it a great shot, but ultimately, the Blue Eagles may have just a little too much firepower and may tire out the Konkrete Kids with their fastbreak-style offense.
Keith Groller’s prediction: Nazareth 31-21
Note: Keith Groller’s EPC picks were 7-1 last week. His record is 80-18 this season.
