Parkland, Liberty, and Nazareth are three of the best teams in Eastern Pennsylvania Conference football this season, and they proved their strength again on Thursday night with each team winning a lopsided game to get Week 6 started.
The unbeaten Trojans, ranked third in the state in Class 6A behind only La Salle College High School from the Philadelphia Catholic League and Harrisburg, rolled to a 45-0 win over visiting Allen.
The Hurricanes, who haven’t lost since a Week 1 defeat to Pennridge, improved to 5-1 with a 47-0 shutout of winless East Stroudsburg North at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.
Nazareth bounced back from its loss to Parkland with a 43-6 victory at Pleasant Valley to keep pace with Liberty at 5-1.
Here are some details from the one-sided outcomes:
Parkland 45, Allen 0
The Trojans outgained the Canaries 313-26 and held Allen to negative-6 yards rushing. TJ Lawrence ran for 59 yards on eight carries and scored three touchdowns, including two in the first quarter when Parkland opened a 21-0 lead.
Naquon Thomason added 56 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown, and Liam Spang scored a TD on his one carry and Justin Barnes added a fourth-quarter touchdown.
Parkland quarterback Finn Coen completed 11 of 16 passes for 158 yards. Nassim Adams and Blake Nassry each had three receptions for a combined 117 yards. Adams had a 52-yard catch.
In notching the team’s first shutout of the year, Spang had five tackles, including a sack and Michael Car had a pair of sacks.
Parkland is at Dieruff next Friday, while Allen (3-3) plays Allentown Central Catholic Saturday night Oct. 4 at J. Birney Crum Stadium.
Liberty 47, East Stroudsburg North 0
The Hurricanes led 21-0 after one quarter and 41-0 at halftime, putting the entire second half under the mercy rule. They outgained the Timberwolves 228-13 and limited North to just two first downs.
Antonio Fontanez was a modest 6-for-7 passing for 86 yards, but threw three TD passes. Jake Pukszyn and Zyaire Davis each had TD receptions, and Pukszyn threw a TD pass to Jonte Bowe. Christian Contakes also had a catch for a score.
Gabe Green led the Liberty ground game with 44 yards on six carries, and Fontanez, Robert Rush and Mekkhi McKenzie all had at least 20 yards rushing.
Brandon Roca led North with 24 yards on 12 carries.
Liberty is at Nazareth next Friday, while North will host Pleasant Valley on the same night.
Nazareth 43, Pleasant Valley 6
Blue Eagles’ sophomore Cooper Madson got his first win as a varsity starting quarterback, completing 10 of 15 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns. He found Luke DiPietro for TDs covering 62 and 40 yards and also connected with Marquez Wimberly for a 34-yard score.
Nazareth led 22-0 before the Bears got on the board. It was 29-6 at halftime, and Wimberly’s TD reception set the mercy rule in motion with 3:50 left in the third quarter.
Wimberly also ran for 159 yards on 14 carries and scored two rushing TDs, one of them covering 66 yards. Will Bacolo added 44 yards rushing on seven carries and scored a touchdown. DiPietro finished with three catches for 109 yards, and Matt Leluga added four receptions for 80 yards.
Chris Ward had the lone score for Pleasant Valley (2-4).
Nazareth returns home to play Liberty next Friday in a battle of 5-1 teams. The Bears will travel to East Stroudsburg North.
