Northampton remains perfect, Nazareth wins EPC South and Pleasant Valley wins a tie – The Morning Call

Here’s a roundup of the best Lehigh Valley high school football games from Friday night in Week 10.

Nazareth 35, Easton 28

The game began with both teams trading punts, but Nazareth superstar Sonny Sasso put the Blue Eagles on the board with a three-yard run. The first quarter ended 7-0, but Easton’s JuJu Fiers scored from 12 yards out to tie the score early in the second. Easton then took a 13-7 lead after Joseph Martinez found Jordan Alston for a 51-yard touchdown. The Red Rovers extended their lead after Aidan Hutchinson took a direct snap and scored a 25-yard touchdown to make it 20-7 Easton with 1:05 left in the half. However, with five seconds left in the second quarter, Sasso found Nolan Lobo for a 14-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 20-14. The second half started with a defensive play, but Nazareth’s defense made the biggest difference when Mason Kuehner picked off a pass and made a good play to set up Nazareth’s offense. The Blue Eagles took over and Colin Wells hit a five-yard field goal to put Nazareth up 21-20 and end the third. Easton scored to regain the lead, but a block in the penalty box canceled out the points. They had to settle for a field goal, but Nazareth pulled through to maintain a 21-20 lead. That lead was extended after Chris Bugbee threw a short pass to Lobo that went 59 yards for a TD and the PAT gave Nazareth a 28-20 lead. The Red Rovers came right back as Hutchinson scored his second of the game and Fiers added a two-point conversion to tie the score at 28. Bugby found Kuehner for a 31-yard pass to give Nazareth a 35-28 lead with 2:24 left. Nazareth’s defense made a fourth-and-six late in the game, and the Blue Eagles clinched the EPC South championship.

Northampton 42, Whitehall 7

Whitehall won the toss and took possession, and that was about all that went well for the Zephyrs. Northampton scored early in the second quarter on Kaden Henrizzi’s 9-yard field goal for a 7-0 lead. Northampton’s first pass of the night from Antonin Russo found a wide open Jaylen Richardson for 53 yards to extend the lead to 14 at halftime. Henrica’s second field goal of the night, this time from seven yards out, gave Northampton a 21-0 lead. Henrizzi had a hat trick in the third quarter and the Konkrete Kids went up 28-0. Whitehall’s Nigel Linton did kick a 49-yard touchdown, but Northampton answered immediately with Henricia’s fourth score of the night to make it 35-7. Another goal from Northampton gave the Konkrete Kids a 42-7 lead and a perfect 10-0 season.

Pleasant Valley 14, Stroudsburg 13

Both teams played great defense early in the game and the score remained 0-0 after one quarter. Pleasant Valley got on the board first in the second quarter, but Stroudsburg’s Jordan Wilcox answered with a touchdown of his own to tie the game at 7. The Bears took the lead again, but Stroudsburg went back to their guy when Wilcox scored his second touchdown of the night. However, Stroudsburg missed the extra point and the Mounties trailed 14-13. Both defenses played hard to end the game and the difference was the missed extra point.

Lehighton 27, Jim Thorpe 14

Lehighton scored first with Ethan Buchert’s 58-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead. Lehighton held the lead late in the first quarter, but on the first play of the second quarter, Jim Thorpe’s Cole Lazorick took it 27 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7. Early in the third quarter, Jim Thorpe took the lead after an eight-yard touchdown run by Brett Balliet. Buchert’s big hit gave Lehighton great field position, and they capitalized on an 11-yard run by quarterback Brady O’Donnell. The extra point was blocked and Jim Thorpe led 14-13. Buchert made another play, this time a one-yard touchdown, but he put Lehighton ahead again with 8:42 left. Buchert was the man all night, and a big defensive interception set up his third touchdown of the night. This time, Buchert scored from eight yards out to give Lehighton a 27-14 lead. After another interception, this time by Dylan Moyer, Lehighton won the game and punched its ticket to the District 11 3A playoffs.

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Northern Lehigh 49, Palmerton 28

Both teams traded punts to start the game, but Palmerton broke off a run to take an 8-0 lead with 4:24 left in the first. After a fourth-down conversion, Northern Lehigh got on the board and trailed 8-7 after the extra point. After a big run from Northern Lehigh, the Bulldogs made it happen again to take a 14-8 lead with 5:14 left in the half. The Bulldogs fumbled and recovered an onside kick before going on a long run to take a 21-8 lead. The run game worked all night and Northern Lehigh broke off another long drive that resulted in a short touchdown to extend the lead to 28-8. The two teams traded scores and Northern Lehigh took a 35-16 lead. However, the Bulldogs’ game was too much for Palmerton as Northern Lehigh added two more points and ran away with the game.

Palisades 14, Saucon Valley 7

As with many of Friday’s games, the first quarter was a defensive struggle. Tied 0-0 after one, Palisades struck first, taking a 7-0 lead with 5:16 left in the second quarter. Saucon Valley quarterback Luke Szymko threw a touchdown to receiver Jack Robertson and the game was tied at 7. With 3:06 left in the third quarter, Palisades regained the lead and took a 14-7 lead. The Palisades defense came up big the rest of the night and Saucon Valley couldn’t get back on the board to tie the score

Jeremy Klump of The Morning Call can be reached at jklump@mcall.com.

Follow him on Twitter @NUTTYxPROFESSOR

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