Whitehall entered Saturday night’s District 11 5A championship game at Catasauqua as the highest-scoring team in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
The Zephyrs had scored 458 points in their first 11 games, an average of 41.6 per contest. Only Parkland — at 40.2 — was close.
While Whitehall didn’t hit its scoring average in the title game against Pocono Mountain East, it was the defense that earned the storied program the gold.
After allowing 257 yards and 24 points in the first half, the Zephyrs’ defense allowed just 70 yards and no points after halftime. Talon and Tanner Dogmanits each scored second-half touchdowns, and Whitehall (10-2) was able to overcome a 24-21 halftime deficit to beat Pocono Mountain East 35-24 for its sixth 5A district title in 10 seasons and ninth overall.
Whitehall will advance to the 5A state tournament, where it will play Philadelphia Catholic League power and District 12 champ Roman Catholic next weekend. The Cahillites (8-3) beat Olney 48-0 on Saturday to advance to the final 16.
Pocono Mountain East saw an amazing turnaround season end at 8-4 after winning just one game in 2024.
Whitehall played with a lot of motivation after losing 22-17 to East Stroudsburg South in last year’s district final.
“I’m just happy for the seniors after a heartbreaking loss in this game last year and for the kids who came along for the ride this year,” said coach Andy Marino. “It was a great group. We had minimal off-the-field stuff. Everything mattered to them, and the best part is that they played together.”
Marino said there really weren’t any major adjustments made at halftime.
“Contrary to most people’s belief, there are not really many halftime adjustments you can make,” Marino said. “You look at what’s working, what’s not, and you focus on that. I thought we were running the ball well the whole game. Clearly, they were taking Talon [Dogmanits] away, so mathematically with the running quarterback, things worked out for us.”
Scoring summary
Pocono Mt. East 7 – 17 – 0 – 0 — 24
Whitehall 7 – 14 – 7 – 7 — 35
FIRST QUARTER
P: Amari Green 1 run (Lucas Angst kick), 6:55
W: Iskander Blanco 1 run (Cole Richards kick), 1:17
SECOND QUARTER
P: Green 18 run (Angst kick), 10:46
W: Justin Hussett 5 run (Richards kick), 10:25
P: Angst 35 field goal, 6:57
W: James Hopkins 29 pass from Tanner Dogmanits (Richards kick), 4:!2
P: Devon Jackson 17 pass from Ceejay Serfass (Angst kick), 1:00
THIRD QUARTER
W: Talon Dogmanits 9 run (Richards kick), 4:22
FOURTH QUARTER
W: Tanner Dogmanits 1 run (Richards kick), 5:42
Individual stats
RUSHING
Pocono Mountain East (38 for 167): Amari Green 24-119, 2 TDs; Ceejay Serfass 11-39; Justin Williams 3-9.
Whitehall (44 for 247): Justin Hussett 21-137, TD; Tanner Dogmanits 15-75, TD; Iskander Blanco 7-26, TD; Talon Dogmanits 1-9, TD.
PASSING
Pocono Mountain East: Serfass 15-22-0, 165 yards, TD.
Whitehall: Tanner Dogmanits 12-14-0, 161 yards, TD.
RECEIVING
Pocono Mountain East: Connor Triano 4-49; Williams 4-49; Devon Jackson 3-37, TD; Green 3-22; Ian Stiles 1-8.
Whitehall: Talon Dogmanits 6-80; Henry Shultz 3-32; James Hopkins 1-29, TD; Hussett 1-11; Rocco Fonzone 1-9.
More to come later Sunday.
