OREFIELD – The top-seeded Parkland Trojans came into Friday’s first-round District 2/4/11 contest with Williamsport with high expectations, but fans in attendance were alarmed by the start the Trojans had to start the evening.
The Trojans had two turnovers on their first two possessions that gave the eighth-seeded Millionaires some early hope. That hope, however, was short-lived as Parkland (11-0) shook off the slow start to rout Williamsport (5-6) 56-0 at Orefield Football Stadium. Following the first two drives, it looked much more like the undefeated Trojan team that rolled through the regular season.
“We woke up and played Trojan football,” head coach Tim Moncman said. “Our focus was not the best to start but they bounced back and put it all together. Defensively I thought we played a pretty complete game.”
That slow start began on Parkland’s opening drive of the game when quarterback Luke Spang was intercepted by Williamsport’s Ky’ian Mims, setting the Millionaires up at the Trojan 35-yard line following a personal foul penalty on the return. The Millionaires moved the ball to the 28 to set up All-State kicker Connor Poole up for a 38-yard field goal, but he was well short to keep the game scoreless. Trojan running back Trey Tremba broke off for a 36-yard run on the ensuing drive to only be stripped of the ball by Khanif Carter and recovered by Williamsport at their own 40-yard line.
It took only one play for the game to finally swing back into the hands of Parkland when Russell Clark sacked Williamsport quarterback Caleb Williamson and forced a fumble that the Trojans recovered. Tremba more than made up for his fumble by racing 16 yards up the middle for a touchdown on the drive that gave Parkland a 7-0 lead at the 6:10 mark of the first quarter. It was a sign of things to come for the senior running back that totaled 184 all-purpose yards (105 rush, 79 receiving).
“We knew we had to limit turnovers and once we shook that off I felt that is when we could finally get rolling,” Tremba said. “Our offensive line did a great job creating holes and it made my job easier when I was in.”
Tremba and the Trojans went back to work following a Millionaire three-and-out and he added his second touchdown on the ground off a 26-yard burst following a nice cutback to the right side. One drive later, Tremba struck through the air as Luke Spang found him wide open on a wheel route for a 73-yard touchdown that gave Parkland a 21-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the first quarter.
“Trey has done a tremendous job for us all year,” Moncman said. “We finally got two of our senior offensive lineman back that missed time this year and that is going to help us a long way moving forward.”
Parkland continued to thrive off big plays into the second quarter when Luke Spang found Leo Dauberman on a 43-yard catch-and-run from a screen pass to bring the score to 28-0 just 1:40 into the second quarter. Tremba’s night was over just less than a quarter and a half into the game and freshman T.J. Lawrence picked up right where he left off by racing 31 yards up the middle on the next Parkland drive to make it 35-0.
The Trojan offense could easily be the spotlight of the game after racking up 418 total yards, but the defense was equally as impressive by holding Williamsport to just 36 yards of total offense and five first downs behind limiting them to -15 yards rushing. Defensive lineman Julius Reyes snatched a short pass attempt for an interception on Williamsport’s next drive deep in Millionaire territory. Three plays later, Caleb Corsa got in on the scoring to push Parkland’s advantage to 42-0 that they held into the half.
“We have preached speed to the ball all year on defense and especially our ends Jake Beidleman and Robbie Rusich have done a great job limiting big plays from starting,” Moncman said. “Our secondary has really stepped up and played well it was really just a great effort on defense.”
Parkland capped their dominant night by adding a pair of second half touchdowns with one coming in each quarter. Backup quarterback Blake Nassry scrambled for a 9-yard touchdown on 4th and Goal in the third before Liam Spang finished the scoring by powering in from a yard out.
The Trojans now set their sites on a second round contest with a very familiar foe in EPC South rival Emmaus (6-5), who held off Freedom (6-5) 19-14 in Bethlehem.
“I told the guys at halftime that if they started like this against an Emmaus or Freedom they would possibly be down at that point of the game,” Moncman said. “It is going to be a typical EPC South Division game and it is important we have the game at home. The game will be a slugfest and back to what we are most used to.”
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Williamsport | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Parkland | 21 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 56 |
Scoring Summary:
| 1 | Parkland | Tremba, 16 run (Gallagher kick) | 6:10 |
| 1 | Parkland | Tremba, 26 run (Gallagher kick) | 3:05 |
| 1 | Parkland | Tremba, 73 pass from Luke Spang (Gallagher kick) | 0:15 |
| 2 | Parkland | Dauberman, 43 pass from Luke Spang (Gallagher kick) | 10:20 |
| 2 | Parkland | Lawrence, 31 run (Gallagher kick) | 8:12 |
| 2 | Parkland | Corsa, 2 run (Gallagher kick) | 6:41 |
| 3 | Parkland | Nassry, 9 run (Dancsecs kick) | 3:10 |
| 4 | Parkland | Liam Spang, 1 run (Dancsecs kick) | 5:11 |
Team Statistics
| Williamsport | Parkland | |
| First downs | 5 | 19 |
| Rushes-yards | 20-(-15) | 33-193 |
| Passing yards | 51 | 225 |
| Total yards | 36 | 418 |
| Passes COMP-ATT-INT | 10-24-1 | 14-20-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-1 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 7-33.4 | 1-33.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 2-20 | 2-30 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Williamsport: Whaley 5-20, Harris 1-4, Hale 5-2, Moses 1-1, White 1-0, Rice 2-(-7), Williamson 5-(-35)
Parkland: Tremba 10-105, Lawrence 1-31, Corsa 12-24, Nassry 2-18, Adams 4-13, Liam Spang 2-12, TEAM 2-(-10)
PASSING
Williamsport: Williamson 8-18-1—42, Way 2-5-0—9, Moses 0-1-0
Parkland: Luke Spang 8-12-1—165, Nassry 6-8-0–60
RECEIVING
Williamsport: Moses 3-14, Hale 2-15, Damschroder 2-9, Everett 1-10, Poole 1-5, Rice 1-(-2)
Parkland: Tremba 2-79, Babinchak 2-23, Kelchner 2-17, Dauberman 1-43, Bauer 1-19, Johns 1-14, J. Ruisch 1-10, Sanchez 1-8, Adams 1-5, Andrush 1-4, Rosenblum 1-3
INTERCEPTIONS:
Williamsport: Mims
Parkland: J. Reyes
MISSED FIELD GOALS:
Williamsport: Poole, 38
