Brian Ptashinski @bptashinski on Twitter.
Orefield- It wasn’t as crisp as Parkland’s coach Jim Morgans would have liked but his team managed to take a 21 point lead, then hold on down the stretch for a 28-14 victory in a battle of unbeaten teams in the EPC South.
Parkland quarterback Devonte Cross scored twice on 12-yard scoring runs. He rushed for 73 yards on 14 carries. He also threw for 156 yards on 12 completions.
“We got tested tonight, by a real good football team,” Coach Morgans stated. “We came out with the win, but that is one heck of a team we faced tonight.”
Erik DiGirolamo, had a hard workload on both sides of the ball rushing for nearly 80 yards and making numerous tackles on defense. Jahan Worth also chipped in with 70 yards via the ground game.
“It was tough out there, fun, but tough. DiGirolamo said afterwards, ”They were as physical as anything.” “It was great getting a win against a team like that. It will set us up going forward against stiff completion.”
Parkland led 21-0 at the half, but were outscored 14-7 in the second half by the Vikings who were led by former Trojan quarterback Ethan Persa. Persa who was harassed all night by the tough Trojan defense finally got his team on the board with a perfectly placed 42 yard pass to Dallas Kassis. Persa then did it with his legs late in the game with a 42 yard run to the Parkland 12 yard line leading to their second score.
Central Catholic coach John Cupples said of his signal caller, “He is a tough kid, he took some shots tonight, but he kept right on fighting all night. He will keep working and he will keep getting better as the season goes along.”
Parkland now 3-0 will travel to face Pocono Mountain West next Friday, while the Vikings at 2-1 will host unbeaten Easton at J. Birney Crum Stadium.
One Response
I was at the game,clearly the underdog Vikings played Parkland tough and made the Trojans work hard and earn every inch for that win. Being down 21-0, Central came out of the locker pumped up and no doubt were the better team in the second half, had they played the same way in the first–hmm,who knows!!