At Cottingham Stadium Friday night in front of a packed house, the Easton Red Rovers clinched the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division Championship, beating the Freedom Patriots 47-27 to win the division. “It feels amazing. During my time at Easton we always shared a conference championship,” running back Shane Simpson told me. “It’s really great to play at home and win a championship. It’s just special,” Easton head coach Steve Shiffert exclaimed proudly.
The first quarter saw Easton chew up most of the clock with a fourteen play drive that was capped by a Simpson five-yard touchdown scamper that gave the Rovers a 6-0 lead after a blocked extra point. The drive consisted of plenty of Simpson, Dalvyn Reynolds, and just a little from Nolan Kilpatrick, plus two completed passes by Trey Durrah to his tight ends Daniel Pasch and Kyle Walsh that were both good for first downs.
The second quarter saw more of the same from Easton as Shane Simpson capped an eight-play drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. Nolan Kilpatrick converted two points with a run making it 14-0. Later on in the quarter, Durrah threw an interception to John Callahan and the Freedom Patriots would capitalize with the short field on a Quarterback Jonah Gundrum seven-yard touchdown plunge to make it 14-6 Easton after yet another blocked extra point. The Patriots and Red Rovers took it to the half with that score.
The third quarter scoring consisted of a Trey Durrah two-yard touchdown run to make it 21-6 as the Easton defense stiffened throughout the quarter. Easton then went on a ten-play drive that led into the fourth quarter. It was finalized by a Shane Simpson four-yard touchdown running play to make it 27-6 after the extra point was missed. Freedom responded on their next drive as Jonah Gundrum connected with Jacob Young on a twenty six-yard touchdown pass to draw the score closer to 27-13.
Freedom attempted an onside kick but Easton tight end Kyle Walsh recovered. On the very next play Simpson busted one open for a fifty-five yard touchdown run, his fourth of the night to make the score 34-13. “Shane is the model of consistency,” his head coach said proudly. Freedom tried to respond but Jonah Gundrum was picked off by linebacker Corey Deemer to give the Rovers a short field. Dalvyn Reynolds capitalized on the turnover with a five-yard touchdown run to give the Rovers a commanding 41-13 lead. Freedom’s best player on this night, Jonah Gundrum would streak down the field on a forty-two yard touchdown read option play to make the score 41-20. The bad news, Easton’s next series Dalvyn Reynolds took it to the house sixty-seven yards for the score making it Easton 47 Freedom 20 after another extra point was blocked. To finish up the scoring Fredom’s Jonah Gundrum hooked up again with Jacob Young on a sixteen-yard touchdown pass to make the final score Easton 47 Freedom 27.
“Don’t forget about Dalvyn and our offensive line. We ran power, sweep, and trap. It’s a real tribute to the offensive line and our coaches,” Coach Shiffert told me with a smile on his face after winning the EPC South division championship.
