Yes, Whitehall wanted to pay tribute to Saquon Barkley Friday night, not only by inducting him into the school’s Hall of Fame, but also by putting on the kind of offensive show he was apart of so many times in his Zephyrs career a little more than a decade ago.
But they also wanted to send a message to the team on the visiting sideline.
That message: It’s not 2024 anymore.
Whitehall lost twice to East Stroudsburg South last season, and the second defeat was an agonizing 22-17 loss in the District 11 5A title game where the pivotal moment was a 71-yard fumble return for a South score.
On Friday night, Tanner Dogmanits, the Whitehall quarterback who fumbled last year, threw an interception on his team’s first offensive play.
But Dogmanits bounced back in a big way.
He completed his last eight passes, including three to his brother Talon for touchdowns. He also ran for a score.
Jeziah Gregory added three rushing touchdowns as part of his 172-yard night, and the Zephyrs scored 48 straight points in a 62-21 mercy-rule victory.
The lopsided win put Whitehall at 2-1 at the end of the nonleague portion of the schedule. The Zephyrs host unbeaten Pocono Mountain West Friday night in their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference opener.
Injury-plagued South fell to 0-3 and opens its EPC slate by hosting Allen Friday.
“We knew there was going to be a big atmosphere with Saquon coming back in, but we weren’t really focused on that,” Tanner Dogmanits said. “We were focused on the fact that they beat twice — early in the season and in the district championship game. We had to practice well and come in strong. We want to make a statement this year.”
Tanner Dogmanits added that it’s a unified team that doesn’t mind practicing, even after a long day of school.
“We do it for each other,” he said.
Talon Dogmanits said there was some sloppiness early Friday night, perhaps in part because of the atmosphere and the distractions that come along with welcoming home one of the world’s most famous athletes.
“Once we picked it up, we didn’t let go,” Talon Dogmanits said.
The interception by South’s Aidan Cruz set up a 19-yard touchdown by Gianni Gonnella. The Zephyrs answered by driving into the South red zone when a fumble gave the Cavaliers the ball at their own 6.
But the defense held and forced a punt that partially blocked punt. That led to a Tanner Dogmanits TD.
“You have to have a short memory in football,” Dogmanits said of his early interception. “You have to have a next play mentality.”
From there, Whitehall’s offense was unstoppable.
South scored on an 80-yard TD run by Gonnella to get within 14-13 with 8:50 left in the half, but the Zephyrs scored three touchdowns over the remainder of the second half and got a 90-yard kickoff return by Justin Hussett to start the second half. Another Gregory TD run put the mercy rule in place with 7:03 left in the third period.
The Cavaliers entered the game with several two-way starters injured and then lost quarterback Ivan Laubach to another injury in the first half and had no answer against the Zephyrs.
The good news for South is that they have already qualified for the District 11 5A playoffs because there are just four teams in 5A and all make it regardless of record.
Whitehall is also a 5A team but has no intention of resting on its qualification.
“I was pleased with the way we responded to those early turnovers,” Whitehall coach Andy Marino said. “We gave them a short field and got behind. But I think once we figured out how they were going to play, and in Week 3 teams are still figuring things out, we felt good about some of the calls we made. I’m just proud of the effort of our guys. We didn’t worry about the scoreboard and had the resiliency to respond. We talk about it all the time. Good or bad, you have to continue to chug along in life.”
Scoring summary
ES South 7 – 6 – 0 – 8 — 21
Whitehall 7 – 28 – 21 – 6 — 62
FIRST QUARTER
ES: Gianni Gonnella 19 run (Mamadou Ndiaye kick), 5:34
WH: Tanner Dogmanits 4 run (Cole Richards kick), 0:47
SECOND QUARTER
WH: Jeziah Gregory 29 run (Cole Richards kick), 9:07
ES: Gonnella 80 run (kick failed), 8:50
WH: Talon Dogmanits 21 pass from Tanner Dogmanits (Richards kick), 6:50
WH: Gregory 44 run (Richards kick), 4:45
WH: Talon Dogmanits 44 pass from Tanner Dogmanits (Richards kick), 3:27
THIRD QUARTER
WH: Justin Hussett 90 kickoff return (Richards kick), 11:46
WH: Gregory 2 run (Richards kick), 7:03
WH: Talon Dogmanits 18 pass from Tanner Dogmanits (Richards kick), 3:11
FOURTH QUARTER
WH: Kevin Herrera 1 run (kick failed), 9:47
ES: Tramire Banks 3 run (Ryan Tucker run), 1:46
Individual stats
RUSHING
East Stroudsburg South (37 for 269): Gianni Gonnella 15-157, 2 TD; Ivan Laubach 5-10; Avery Walker 6-15; Ayden Walker 2-6; Tramire Banks 5-45; Zoo Kone 3-16.
Whitehall (24 for 199): Jeziah Gregory 14-172, 3 TDs; Tanner Dogmanits 4-15; Kevin Herrera 4-15; Justin Hussett 1-0; Jacob Hannis 1-(-3).
PASSING
East Stroudsburg South: Laubach 0-3-0; Greyson Fuller 6-17-1, 66 yards.
Whitehall: Tanner Dogmanits 8-9-1,124 yards, 3 TDs.
RECEIVING
East Stroudsburg South: Ayden Walker 3-46; Avery Walker 1-6; Jason Greene-Williams 1-3; Jerimiah Ostine 1-11.
Whitehall: Henry Shultz 4-36; Talon Dogmanits 3-83, 3 TDs; James Hopkins 1-5.
