When Easton’s 42-17 victory over Parkland on Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium in the District 11 Class 6A championship game was over, the party was just beginning.
With the large Red Rovers marching band playing loudly, players hugging parents, coaches hugging players and other coaches, friends eventually working their way onto the field, and no one in a hurry to leave, the scene was joyous.
And there was a good reason for it.
Easton hadn’t won a district football title since 2010.
For the Red Rovers, who have the second-highest win total of any Pennsylvania football program behind only Mount Carmel, 15 years might have seemed like 150.
Since District 11 began crowning football champions in 1984, Easton had never gone more than 10 years — 1993 to 2003 — before the streak that ended Friday night.
There were plenty of tears of joy, and Matt Baltz, the former Easton football player and coach who just reached his third anniversary as Easton’s athletic director, admitted to having a few rolling down his face.
“I grew up across the street from Easton High School, and as a little kid, I would watch practices,” Baltz said. “Then I had a chance to play here and came back to be part of the staff for 17 or 18 years under Coach [Steve] Shiffert and Coach [Jeff] Braido before moving into this role. So, they’re all special and obviously I want to see every program have a ton of success, but when you’re a part of a program to the degree I was for so long, winning that title on Friday was a really special moment for me and our program.”
Baltz was not surprised by how emotional so many were.
“I think our community was really starving for that level of success again,” Baltz said. “It really is the expectation of our fans and community that we’re in the mix and we’re in those games on a regular basis. It had been since 2014 when we were in a position to play a game at that level, and 15 years since we won that championship. So we were hungry for that, and I think that hunger was evident in our kids in their ability to get there so quickly with our new coaching staff.”
Baltz was approved as athletic director in November 2022, and one of his first tasks was to hire a football coach after Braido’s resignation following the 2022 season.
Matt Senneca resigned at Whitehall in December 2022. In four years with the Zephyrs, Senneca’s teams went 17-26, but won two District 11 5A titles.
His hiring caught a few people by surprise, but Baltz saw in Senneca the type of fiery leader the program needed for a reboot after a 3-8 season in 2022.
Senneca’s first team in 2023 also finished 3-8, but Baltz said that wasn’t a surprise.
“When you go through that process as a first-time AD in your first couple of weeks on the job at a place like Easton, I would say, yes, I had my hands full,” Baltz said. “But we have a really strong process in that, not only myself, but we have a number of administrators who have a background in athletics. And I had been in the football community and the coaching ranks for a while, so you can dip into that level of knowledge and have interactions with people and have the kind of resources to do your due diligence with a hire like this.
“What was evident with Matt is that while he may not have been an Easton grad or someone in our program, which had, historically, been the way we have gone with our coaching hires, he had the qualities of instilling discipline and having the fire for success and really caring about the kids and the community,” Baltz said. “Those were the things we saw there, and we knew that when you go through a coaching change, it’s highly unlikely you’re going to see a championship run in the first year. … You could see the foundation being laid there with the buy-in from the kids.”
Easton lost its opener in 2024 and then won 10 games before losing a heartbreaker to Emmaus in the district semifinals. However, the Red Rovers bounced back to beat Phillipsburg, 17-14, in overtime.
That win served as a springboard into this season, which has not only resulted in a championship, but also in the program’s first 13-win season since 2009.
No Easton team has ever won 14 games in a season, and while the Red Rovers have at least two shots at No. 14, they would love for it to come Friday night in the PIAA Class 6A playoffs against District 12 champ La Salle College High School from the Philadelphia Catholic League.
The game is at Easton’s home-away-from-home, BASD Stadium. Next to its home at Cottingham Stadium, the Red Rovers have played more games at BASD than any other venue, and are comfortable there.
But La Salle (10-1) can create a lot of discomfort.
La Salle beat perennial District PCL power and longtime District 11 nemesis St. Joe’s Prep twice this season. St. Joe’s Prep ended the season for the District 11 champ in the highest classification 10 times in 11 seasons.
The last time the District 11 champ has beaten the Philly rep in the state tournament was when Parkland beat La Salle 16-13 en route to the PIAA final.
This year’s La Salle team was challenged by Imhotep in the District 12 title game Saturday afternoon before prevailing 31-16.
La Salle’s Ahzir Nelson had 183 yards rushing on 19 carries and a touchdown. Nelson often ran behind 6-foot-8, 285-pound, Notre Dame-bound senior left tackle Grayson McKeogh. The Explorers have four other linemen who are 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds, including two who go 290 pounds.
La Salle also features wide receiver/defensive back Joey O’Brien, another Notre Dame commit.
Clearly, the Explorers will pose a daunting challenge for the Red Rovers, but after their domination of Parkland, they will not be intimidated.
“Physicality and perfection is what we preach,” senior captain and starting center Gavin Crossman said. “We saw on film against Parkland that if we played our game, we could have an outcome like this. It means a lot to us as seniors to go from 3-8 two years ago to district champs. It’s awesome. Not only does it mean a lot to us, but to the entire city.”
Baltz is as busy as he is excited. There’s always a lot of extra work that goes into the Thanksgiving morning game against Phillipsburg, the most attended high school game in the state, and perhaps, the country. Now he has to make plans for a PIAA game.
“It’s a busy time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Baltz said. “It’s incredibly humbling to be in this role as someone who came through this program as a student, an athlete and teaching and coaching here. My family has all been on the same path as students, athletes, and coaches. When I walk into my office every day, I see a wall of pictures with the first team of every sport, and you see teams from the 1880s and 1890s, and you realize that we’ve had just six athletic directors. It’s incredibly humbling to have this role. I feel a strong responsibility to maintain our traditions and enhance them and make sure their experience as an Easton student-athlete is as rewarding as it was for me and for so many through the years.”
