Marquez Wimberly wears a wrist band on his left arm with the numbers of all his Nazareth teammates who have been injured this season, some of whom will never play again.
Jayden Wolf, Lance Zuercher and, of course, Peyton Falzone, are a few of the guys the Blue Eagles were missing when they took on Northampton on Friday night a Andy Leh Stadium in the District 11 6A quarterfinals. He plays with those guys in his heart and mind.
In what was his final home game, Wimberly played out of his mind.
The Division I Sacramento State commit ran for 253 yards, scoring three touchdowns and a two-point conversion as Nazareth rallied from a 20-13 halftime deficit and built a 34-20 lead before hanging on for a 37-36 victory.
The win sends the third-seeded Blue Eagles (8-3) on to next Friday’s semifinals where they face No. 2 seed and unbeaten Parkland, a 49-14 winner over Stroudsburg. It will be the second time in three seasons those two programs will meet in the district tournament.
Nazareth beat Parkland for the championship two years ago, but the Trojans won a previous meeting this season, 42-6, on Sept. 19.
But the Blue Eagles showed that the second time against an opponent doesn’t always go the same way as he first meeting. It was just two weeks ago that Northampton beat Nazareth 41-28 and did it with 477 yards rushnig, 317 by sophomore Chase Kessler.
Friday’s rematch started out with more of the same as Kessler had a 73-yard on the first play from scrimmage and scored three plays later. He had 152 yards on 12 carries at halftime, but Nazareth did a much better job on him later and Kessler finished with 155 yards on 15 attempts.
Stopping Kessler and Northampton’s ground game, which still had 330 total yards, was the key to the comeback.
“This was a heck of a fight,” Nazareth coach Tom Falzone said. “The first time around, they beat the crap out of us on both sides and it started out that way again. But in the second half, I thought our defense played sturdy and they stepped it up and got the stops we needed.”
Nazareth’s offense did its part by staging long drives that ended in three consecutive touchdowns after halftime and a 35-yard field goal by Owen Hall that gave Nazareth a 37-28 lead with 2:54 left.
But Northampton came back with a scoring drive. Zander Rickert scored on a short TD run with 1:57 left.
Nazareth recovered the onside kick, but couldn’t quite run out the clock.
With 12 seconds left, the Blue Eagles had a fourth-and-short at the Northampton 48. Instead of risking a pass or a run, Falzone had sophomore Chase Brown take a direct snap and sprint toward the opposite end zone. It took all 12 seconds off the clock before Brown dove to the ground, protecting the ball for a safety.
But it was Wimberly’s frequent trips to the other end zone that were the story of the game
“It was one of the greatest games I’ve had,” Wimberly said. “Look at the score. We showed we can play real football. I’m real proud of my line. I’m real proud of everyone. We showed we can step up and play real football. Now, we’ve got a tough battle at Parkland next week.”
All-time series
Northampton and Nazareth entered Friday’s game tied at 27 wins apiece. The Blue Eagles had won 12 straight before the Konkrete Kids broke through at Erdosy Stadium on Oct. 17.
Scoring summary
Northampton 7 – 13 – 0 – 16 — 36
Nazareth 3 – 10 – 6 – 18 — 37
FIRST QUARTER
No: Chase Kessler 1 run (Jackson Sandt kick), 9:34
Na: Owen Hall 28 field goal, 3;30
SECOND QUARTER
No: Kessler 1 run (Sandt kick), 8:05
Na: Maquez Wimberly 57 run (Hall kick), 7:42
No: Gavin Taff 1 run (kick blocked), 6:02
Na: Hall 36 field goal, 1:22
THIRD QUARTER
Na: Wimberly 12 run (kick blocked), 8:24
FOURTH QUARTER
Na: Wimberly 5 run (Wimberly run) 11:15
Na: Matt Leluga 7 pass from Cooper Madson (Hall kick), 7:51
No: Kessler 2 run (Taff run) 6:06
Na: Hall 35 field goal, 2:54
No: Zander Rickert 4 run (kick failed) 1:57
No: Chase Brown ran out of end zone for a safety, 0:00
