EAST STROUDSBURG – In his first varsity start at quarterback, Peyton Falzone threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Blue Eagles Friday Night.
Nazareth defeated East Stroudsburg South 56-7 in their season opener.
It was South who got the first score of the 2023 season. On their first possession, they drove right down the field when quarterback Ivan Laubach hit Nate Gray in stride for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Kondwani Keitt’s kick was good and the Cavaliers led 7-0.
“What a great start to the game,” said East Stroudsburg South Head Coach Matt Walters. “We knew Nazareth was loaded with talent and we wanted to run a couple of different things that we thought we could squeeze in there.”
Gray led South with 79 yards rushing and had two catches for 75 yards.
“Nate Gray is a special player and only a junior,” said Walters. “He is a hard-nosed runner and has great vision. You can’t coach that.”
But South didn’t have much time to celebrate their opening drive touchdown. On the kickoff, Nazareth’s Marquez Wimberly took the kickoff and went 78 yards down the sidelines. That touchdown sparked the Blue Eagles offense and they never looked back.
“That was huge from the start,” said Nazareth Head Coach Tom Falzone. “I talked about how great he is and the things he can do. He surely showed it right there and made an instant impact.”
By the time the first quarter ended, Falzone had thrown two touchdowns, both to Mason Kuehner (29 and 32 yards).
“He is very fortunate to have these tools around him,” said Falzone. “Mason is a weapon and he showed it tonight. Peyton is a young pup and he is learning,” said Falzone. “We are hoping he is going to get better and continue to grow.”
Leading the way on the line tonight were guys like All-State lineman Sean Kinney. “Let’s talk about that lineup front and how good of a job they did protecting Peyton tonight,” said Falzone. “They gave him time to see the field.”
Jed Bendekovits added two rushing (five and 25 yards) touchdowns in the second quarter and at halftime the Blue Eagles led 35-7.
In the second half, Falzone threw his third touchdown of the game. It went 53 yards to Logan Hilarczyk. Jayden Wolf added a rushing touchdown for the Blue Eagles. The final score of the game was a recovered fumble in the end zone by Anthony DiFrancesco.
An additional highlight of the game was the Blue Eagle defense. Wimberly and Hilarczyk had interceptions and Frank Mroz recovered a fumble.
“We settled in and it was good to see,” said Falzone. “At first South hit one in the middle on us. But we settled down and the defense played hard-nosed football tonight.”
Honoring a Legend: Before the game, a moment of silence was held for legendary East Stroudsburg Head Coach Ed Christian. Ed was the head coach at the school for 38 years and worked for 52 years at the school district. He is already a member of the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
This season is going out to Ed Christian,” said Walters. “For the amount of years, he poured into this community and not just this football program. We got these shirts that say “Forever A Cavalier” and his name is on the back of each shirt. We have a sticker on the back of our helmets with Ed’s initials.”
“I think the next step is to get this field named after him,” said Walters.
Scoring Summary
| Final | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | T |
| Nazareth Area | 21 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 56 |
| East Stroudsburg South | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
1st Quarter
ESS: Nate Gray 27 yard pass from Ivan Laubach (Kondwani Keitt kick) 10:04
NAZ: Marquez Wimberly 78-yard kickoff return (Nathan Baker kick) 9:50
NAZ: Mason Kuehner 29-yard pass from Peyton Falzone (Baker kick) 3:39
NAZ: Mason Kuehner 32-yard pass from Peyton Falzone (Baker kick) 0:38
2nd Quarter
NAZ: Jed Bendekovits 5 yard run (Baker kick) 8:26
NAZ: Jed Bendekovits 15 yard run (Baker kick) 3:43
3rd Quarter
NAZ: Logan Hilarczyk 53-yard pass from Peyton Falzone (Baker kick) 11:42
NAZ: Jayden Wolf 27-yard run (Baker kick) 7:20
4th Quarter
NAZ: Anthony DiFrancesco recovered a loose ball in the end zone (Baker kick) 3:04
