EASTON – Easton Area built a 14-0 lead to watch it slip away as Whitehall (5-0) rallied to defeat the Red Rovers 17-14 at Cottingham Stadium.
Whitehall won the battle of unbeatens in a Lehigh Valley Conference game by scoring 17 unanswered points. With the win the Zephyrs setup a battle of unbeatens next Saturday night against Allentown Central Catholic (5-0).
The Red Rovers (4-1) scored on two of its first three possessions of the night. The first score came when Justin Pacchioli hit Conor Mulrine for the five-yard touchdown pass.
They went up 14-0 in the second quarter on a one-yard score by Zach Rohrback.
The Red Rovers seemed to be rolling early in the game.
The Zephyrs would cut the lead in half on a beautiful throw by quarterback Chris Polony to Tyler Artim for the 42-yard score.
Easton led 14-7 halftime.
Whitehall’s defense forced two fumbles and sacked Pacchioli six times.
Easton Area head coach Steve Shiffert said, “We kind of handed it to them with the turnovers. I don’t want to take anything away from Whitehall, but we had too many turnovers to beat a good football team.”
The biggest play of the night went to Whitehall. Polony hit Artim for a short gain, but Artim flipped the ball to Eric Flore for the hook-and-ladder play. Flore took the ball and went right down the sideline leaping into the end zone for the game tying 34-yard score.
Artim said, “We’ve been practicing it all week. I just scooped it to him and Eric made a great move and scored.”
On the next drive Whitehall’s defense held Easton and Pacchioli couldn’t get off a fourth down pass.
The Zephyrs drove down to setup up the field goal attempt by Joshua Ciorcco. Ciorcco’s 27-yard field goal was the deciding factor in the game. Whitehall led 17-14 with 3:58 left in the third quarter.
There would be no score in the final quarter, as the Zephyrs would hold on for the win.
Chris Polony finish the game completing 13 of 20 passes for 184 yards and two scores. Tyler Artim caught eight passes for 99 yards.
Easton’s Justin Pacchioli finished with 171 yards passing on 17 of 25 completions.
