Sometimes stats can be deceiving. However that was not the case Friday night as Nazareth was held to only two first downs and just 18 offensive plays by a stifeling Whitehall defense in the first half. The Zephyrs added three scores on offense to open up a 20-0 lead at intermission. Whitehall put it in cruise control in the second half in route to a 27-7 victory over the Blue Eagles in a key LVC matchup.The “Killer B’s”, Ryan Bonshak and Saquon Barkley combined for 250 yards rushing and 4 scores in the win. Barkley got the Zephyrs on the board midway through the first quarter on a 51 yard scamper up the middle. The PAT was blocked. Whitehall led 6-0. Bonshak got his shot at the end zone with about five minutes to go until halftime on a 13 yard run on a 4th and 2. Connor Ilgenfritz added the PAT. A 4 yard dive by Barkley just before haltime gave Whitehall a comfortable lead.
“I enjoy playing with this great offense we have under Coach Gilbert.” Bonshak stated, who had some special team returns to setup the offense in positive field position. “So many different schemes and it just opens up for us.” He added.
The defense was the story of the night for Whitehall. They held Blue Eagle star RB Jordan Gray to only 14 yards on 12 carries and Shabbar Bokhari to 10 yards on 5 carries. Coach Gilbert gave credit to defensive line and linebackers in containing that potent running attack of Nazareth. Danny Roustic and Nick Nejad on the line along with Jake Kerchner at LB in particular.
Whitehall QB Jeff Charles had a decent night throwing the ball he completed 7 passes for 118 yards and no turnovers. On the opposite side Nazareth starting QB Spencer King was substituted for by Justin Albert in second period. “At that point of the game, we as a staff felt that we needed to make a change.” Coach Rob Melosky mentioned. Albert gave his team a fine effort completing 11-17 for 132 yards and a TD.
The Zephyrs completed their night of scoring midway through the final quarter on a 4 yard run by Bonshak. Ilgenfritz connected on the PAT to give his team a 27-0 advantage. The shutout that the Whitehall defense wanted so much was not to be on this night as Albert hooked up with Max Wasilewski on a 16 yard TD pass with four minutes left in the contest. Whitehall’s Danny Roustic stated, “We wanted to shut them out, we are little disppointed that we didn’t.”
Whitehall now at 4-0 in LVC play will make the trip to Orefield next week in a crucial matchup with arch rival Parkland who defeated Liberty Friday night.
