One hundred years ago, when the Catasauqua-Northampton football series began, the Rough Riders had the better program.
Catty won the first two meetings, 22-6 and 12-7, and the Roughies went 9-2-1 over the first decade of the rivalry.
But things change, and now the series has dramatically switched in favor of the Konkrete Kids and the dominance of the much larger, Eastern Pennsylvania Conference program was never more evident than it was on Thursday morning at Catasauqua’s Alumni Field.
Senior quarterback Gavin Taff threw four touchdown passes and ran for another in earning his team’s MVP award, and Northampton rolled to a 45-0, mercy-rule win on the 100th anniversary of the first game.
It was the Konkrete Kids’ 11th straight win in the Thanksgiving series and 19th in the last 22 games, and extended Northampton’s all-time lead to 65-33-4, giving plenty of fodder to those who believe the series should end. A smaller-than-expected crowd also didn’t help the cause of those who would prefer if the series ended.
“I really thought with all of the buzz we’d see a bigger crowd out here,” said Northampton coach John Toman, whose team finished with a 5-7 mark. “That didn’t really materialize. It might have been the smallest one we’ve had. So that was a little disappointing from the standpoint of enthusiasm for the game. But I still enjoyed the opportunity to coach the kids one more time and be with the seniors. It was also nice to have the opportunity to end the season with a win. Unless you win a state championship, for the most part you don’t get the chance to end the season with a win.”
Toman was pleased that Northampton “took care of business” and got the 35-point spread by halftime that put the mercy rule in effect for the entire second half.
Northampton outgained Catty 275-71 and had 14 first downs to the Rough Riders’ four. Senior Trayshawn Dunn, who ran for 32 yards, was selected his team’s MVP.
Scoring summary
Northampton 14 – 24 – 7 – 0 — 45
Catasauqua 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 — 0
FIRST QUARTER
N: Dom Barkanic 34 pass from Gavin Taff (Gerald Bretzik run), 10:12
N: Taff 17 run (run failed)
SECOND QUARTER
N: Zeke Spencer 27 run (Chase Corrow run), 10:38
N: Cameron Hersch 16 pass from Taff (Alex Garcia run), 7:41
N: Joey High 5 pass from Taff (Riley Montgomery run), 0:25
THIRD QUARTER
N: Noah Kline 7 pass from Taff (Jackson Sandt kick), 6:17
Individual stats
RUSHING
Northampton (31 for 176): Chase Kessler 9-70; Zeke Spencer 6-70, TD; Joell Small 5-24; Gavin Taff 4-22, TD; Zander Rickert 2-10; Zion McKinney 2-0; Shawn Marcks 1-1[ Rocco Amato 1-3; Jeremiah Strowder 1-1.
Catasauqua (29 for 63): Trayshawn Dunn 12-32; Cadeo Estronza 8-25; Joziah Martinez 2-13; Manny Bolmer 1-11; Josiah Lafond 1-(-1); Ruben Concepcion 1-1; Braden Fritchman 1-0; Maxwell Bergman 1-1; Team 2-(-19).
PASSING
Northampton: Gavin Taff 7-11-0, 99 yards 4 TDs.
Catasauqua: Cadeo Estronza 4-11-0, 8 yards; Manny Bolmer 0-1-1.
RECEIVING
Northampton: Noah Kline 2-22, TD; Cameron Hersch 1-17, TD; Joey High 1-5; Keegan Hackett 1-13; Dom Barkanic 1-34, TD; Sincere Wadlington 1-8.
Catasauqua: Manny Bolmer 2-12; Omar Pacheco 1-(-3); Josiah LaFond 1-(-1).
