Here is a roundup of Friday night’s top Lehigh Valley high school football games in Week 13.
Districts 11/4/2 6A Championship
Nazareth 24, Parkland 17
Nazareth went from its 10 to Parkland’s 3 on the opening drive but had its field goal attempt blocked in the game at BASD Stadium. Parkland’s special teams were making special plays, as a Trojans punt pinned Nazareth at the 1. However, the Blue Eagles drove all the way down the field, and with two seconds left in the half, Nazareth tried to hand the ball off to lineman Sean Kinney from the 1, but he was stuffed, keeping the score 0-0. Parkland’s Aidan Gallagher kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the Trojans a 3-0 lead with 9:28 left in the third quarter. Nathan Baker kicked a 33-yard field goal for Nazareth, and the game was tied at 3 heading into the fourth quarter. Parkland quarterback Luke Spang threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Leo Dauberman to give Parkland a 10-3 lead. Jed Bendekovits tied the game for Nazareth on a 26-yard carry. With 3:31 left, Trey Tremba scored from 14 yards out to give Parkland a 17-10 lead. Nazareth answered as quarterback Peyton Falzone made an incredible run to score, and the Blue Eagles went for the 2-point conversion to take the lead. Nazareth ran a trick play, where Mason Kuehner threw a pass to Frankie Mroz to give the Blue Eagles their first lead of the game, 18-17, with 1:08 left. Parkland was driving down the field to win the game, but a fumble was recovered by the Blue Eagles’ Marquez Wimberly, who returned it for a touchdown as time expired.
District 11 3A Championship
Northwestern Lehigh 58, Palmerton 8
Northwestern Lehigh’s Eli Zimmerman ran for a 51-yard touchdown with 9:02 left in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead at Lehighton. Northwestern went up 14-0 over with 3:41 left in the first quarter after quarterback Shane Leh ran for an 11-yard touchdown. Dalton Clymer put Northwestern up 22-0, and then Palmerton fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the Tigers recovered. Shortly after, Leh found Seth Kern for a 40-yard touchdown pass play on a fourth-and-16, and then a 2-point conversion made it 30-0. Palmerton turned the ball over on the next two drives, and after a Palmerton fumble, Leh ran for a 24-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 37-0. With 18 seconds left in the second quarter, Clymer scored his second touchdown of the game, and the Tigers led 43-0 at the half. Devon Hildebrand took a direct snap and ran it in from two yards out to give Northwestern a 50-0 lead. Palmerton finally got on the board with 10:22 left in the fourth quarter on a Ty Sander 1-yard run. Northwestern made the lead 50 again when Brady Zimmerman ran it in from 12 yards out.
PIAA 5A First Round
Delaware Valley 56, Whitehall 27
Delaware Valley took a 7-0 lead when quarterback Logan Olsommer hit Aiden Black for a 32-yard touchdown with 3:36 left in the first quarter. Running back Mike Iuzzolino scored a 30-yard touchdown to Delaware Valley ahead 14-0. With 25 seconds left in the half, Whitehall quarterback Trey Dogmanits threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jack Kocher to cut the lead to 14-7. Ryder Machado’s 51-yard touchdown run and then a 27-yard touchdown run made it 27-7 Delaware Valley. Dogmanits threw his second touchdown pass to Kocher to make 27-15. Delaware Valley answered quickly, and an Olsommer 60-yard touchdown pass to Black again made it 35-14. Dogmanits threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to his brother Talon Dogmanits, and the score was 35-20. Delaware Valley blew the game wide open in the fourth, and after a 13-yard touchdown by Justin Kalitsnick and a 54-yard touchdown by Machado, DV led 49-20. Machado added one more, and Whitehall also added a late score.
PIAA 4A First Round
Selinsgrove 28, Bethlehem Catholic 13
Bethlehem Catholic reached the red zone on its first drive, but senior Jeremy Fyrer’s 35-yard field goal went wide right. Carter Young gave Selinsgrove a 3-0 lead with a 23-yard field goal with 1:10 left in the 1st quarter. Tucker Teats went for a 36-yard touchdown run, and Selinsgrove led 10-0. Bethlehem Catholic’s Cayden Vassa found Jacob Sutton on a wheel route for a 9-yard score to cut the lead to 10-7. Ethan Miller punched it in from 2 yards out to extend Selinsgrove’s lead to 16-7. Devin Greene-Williams blocked a Selinsgrove punt, and then Cayden Vassa connected with Carter Vassa on a 5-yard touchdown pass to make it 16-13 at the half. The Golden Hawks turned it over on downs, and then on the next play, Teats went untouched for a 71-yard score to make it 22-13. Teats scored one more time, and Selinsgrove advanced to the quarterfinals.
첥Ƶ’s Jeremy Klump can be reached at jklump@mcall.com. Follow him on X @NUTTYxPROFESSOR.
