Parkland’s defense leads the way

EASTON – Parkland’s defense forced two third quarter turnovers and broke a halftime tie as the Trojans’ defense led they way in a 41-10 rout over Easton Area in a Districts 2-4-11 Class 4A subregional game Saturday night at Cottingham Stadium.

Parkland (9-2) avenged an early loss to Easton (9-2) and won their ninth straight game. They will advance to meet Pleasant Valley in a semifinal game. Pleasant Valley defeated Stroudsburg 24-21.

The Trojans wanted to establish their defense right from the start. After winning the coin toss, they elected to receive the ball in the second half.

The Trojans’ defense set the tone right out of the gates, forcing a three-and-out on Easton’s first drive. Parkland on their first possession drove 71 yards on 14 plays right down the field as quarterback Tim Baranek capped off the drive with an one-yard run and Zach Owen’s kick put the Trojans up 7-0.

The Red Rovers answered the drive with an Matt Semanick 30-yard field goal to cut their lead to four with 1:21 left in the first quarter.

Easton then took their first lead of the night driving 63 yards. Kyle Bambary’s one-yard touchdown run put the Red Rovers up 10-7.

The Trojans tied the game up at ten on a Zach Owen 32-yard field goal with 30.5 seconds remaining in the first half.

At halftime the game was tied at ten.

In the third quarter Parkland would capitalize on Easton turnovers. Guys like Jarel Elder and Xavier Roden were all over the field making plays. “Our seniors did a tremendous job tonight,” said Jim Morgans. “Tonight all the kids stepped up and I am proud of them.”

After a touchdown pass by Parkland was waved off because of a penalty, Parkland had to punt the ball. The ball took a funny bounce. It hit an Easton player and the Trojans recovered the ball on Easton 25.

Eli Redmond went in from nine-yards out to put Parkland back in the lead. With 7:47 left in the third quarter, Parkland led 17-10.

On Easton’s next drive, Jarel Elder intercepted a Bradley Wilkins pass at the Red Rovers 31. Parkland extended their lead on a Elder one-yard touchdown run. The touchdown was setup by a Tim Baranek to Elder 30-yard pass to the one-yard line. The Trojans led 24-10.

Elder finished the game with 125 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. Elder did limp off early in the game. He was nursing a ankle injury from last week. “It was bothering me a couple of times during the game,” said Elder. “But at the end of the day you have that adrenaline rushing and it’s good.”

The Trojans iced the game with 25.4 seconds left in the third quarter. Elder broke free for a 76-yard run and the Trojans led 31-10.

Owen connected on a 42-yard field goal to up Parkland’s lead to 34-10 with 8:48 remaining in the game.  Redmond finished off the scoring with a 16-yard run.

NOTE: The Red Rovers have one more game this year. They play Phillipsburg in the annual turkey day game. This will be the 106th meeting.

Parkland had 318 total yards to Easton 208. The Trojans out rushed the Red Rovers 248 to 114. “Tim Moncman did a tremendous job preparing the kids this week,” said Morgans.