With last week’s emotional win, Whitehall needed to make sure Friday night’s game with Pleasant Valley didn’t catch them in a bear trap in Brodheadsville. Saquon Barkley scored three times and Junior QB Gianni Sinatore threw for two scores and rushed for another as the Zephyrs cruised to a 41-21 victory over the Bears on a chilly night.
This week’s message from coach Brian Gilbert to his team was to get off to quick start, unlike the 28-7 debacle they faced last week against Central Catholic. The Zephyrs did just that on the first play from scrimmage after Mustafa Mitchell mishandled the opening kickoff giving his team the ball on their own five-yard line. RB Saquon Barkley took a handoff and went to his left but was bottled up. He cut back to the right, found an opening and sprinted the distance, giving the Zephs a quick 7-0 lead.
“Coach talked about getting off to a fast start all week,” Barkley stated. “We got down last week and it took a team effort to get back into it. We did not want that to happen tonight,” he concluded.
Pleasant Valley’s defense tightened up and forced a Barkley fumble at the 36 yard line. Austin Borre finished the drive with a three-yard run with just under four minutes to go in the opening quarter to tie the game.
Whitehall then moved the ball to the Bears ten-yard line and Barkley scored from there on the first play of second quarter. The PAT was missed giving the Zephyrs a 13-7 lead. QB Gianni Sinatore got in the scoring act with a one-yard plunge and Barkley scored again from eight yards out giving the Zephyrs a 27-7 lead at intermission.
“We played well tonight. We got on the board early and we were able to get some new guys in the second half,” Coach Gilbert said. “We need to clean up some of the penalties and some of the turnovers we had tonight, but overall I am happy with the performance,” he concluded.
Sinatore then connected with Conor Sullivan on a ten-yard scoring pass. Mustafa Mitchell had the catch of the night as he outfought two Bear defenders in the end zone on a 25 yard pass.
Borre also scored twice more in the second half, once on a nifty 78 yard run and then on a ten-yard pass from Brandon Kuehner that completed the scoring.
Whitehall (3-0) will host Bethlehem Liberty next week while Pleasant Valley (0-3) travels to William Allen.
