Matt Senneca said one of the problems with his Easton football team playing Parkland on Friday night for the District 11 6A championship is that he can’t call Trojans coach Tim Moncman for advice.
“It’s funny because I texted him this past weekend and I said it’s kind of weird that the first time I get to a game like this and I can’t even ask for him for advice because we’re going against each other,” Senneca said.
Senneca won a pair of District 11 5A titles while at Whitehall, but this is his first time as a head coach in the Class 6A championship game, and he has nothing but the greatest respect for the guy who will be on the opposite sideline — Parkland coach Tim Moncman.
The Red Rovers and Trojans meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Bethlehem Area School District in a much-anticipated matchup of 12-0 and state-ranked teams.
Moncman won three district tites in a span of four seasons at Liberty from 2005-08 and Senneca was one of his assistants. The two will always treasure the Class 4A state title the Hurricanes won in 2008 when it came down to overtime against Bethel Park in Hershey and Liberty won a 28-21 thriller. At the time, 4A was the highest classification.
“I’ve learned a lot from him and he has had a big influence on my coaching career,” Senneca said. “He knows that. As far the two programs go, it’s going to be a great game. I am happy for our kids that they get to be on a stage like this and see the work they put in, pay off. We’re going to show up Friday and give it our best shot.”
Asked what he learned from Moncman, who is now in his 10th season at Parkland and has a 97-25 record with four district championships, Senneca said it was how to handle kids.
“I spent six or seven years with him at Liberty and it was a lot of fun,” Senneca said. “It was when I first started coaching, so he was the first head coach I worked for and I got to see how things were done. He always did things the right way.
“He always challenged the kids, but at the end of the day the kids always knew he cared about them and he loved them. I can still see that with his players today. He does the same thing. So that was one of the big things I tried to take away from my time with him; the personal part of getting to know the kids and making sure they knew you were there for them besides just on the football field.”
Moncman played for Senneca’s father, Sam, at Freedom and later the senior Senneca worked for Moncman at Southern Lehigh as his offensive coordinator. It was Senneca who hired Moncman at Liberty.
“I’ve known Tim since he was in high school and he has known me since I was a little kid,” Senneca said. “So it’s a little surreal, but at the same time it’s kind of cool to share the same stage with him.”
Relationships aside, Senneca respects Parkland as “a great program.”
“You don’t get to this stage four years in a row as they have done, without being a great program,” Senneca said. “They have great coaches and great kids and they don’t make mistakes. They are very sound at what they do. They’re physical, they fly to the football on defense, which is the way we like to play. I think Friday will be a very physical matchup and hopefully we’re ready to play.”
Senneca has done a masterful job in getting Easton to this level so fast after his first team in 2023 was 3-8.
In 2022 the year before Senneca arrived, the Red Rovers lost their first four games for the first time since 1981 and finished 3-8. Easton hasn’t played for a district crown since 2014 and hasn’t won one since 2010.
“I try not to think about our success in terms of me,” Senneca said. “I haven’t thrown one pass or scored one touchdown. The kids have done all of that stuff. So, it’s really all about them and my biggest focus this week is trying to make sure we put them in the best position possible to be successful on Friday night. We want them to be ready so they can just go out and play and have fun.”
Senneca spreads the praise to his coaching staff and gave kudos to his defensive coordinator Bryan Falcone after the Red Rovers defeated Nazareth 38-20 in last week’s semifinals.
“I can’t give Bryan and the defensive staff enough credit,” Senneca said. “I said it after the game on Friday that I have nothing to do with that side of the ball. I really don’t. I trust those guys and I let them go coach. That’s why I hired them. They’re the ones that come up with the game plan every week and they get it through to the kids and the kids just execute it.”
Easton has allowed just 14.5 points per game, second only to Parkland in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.
The Red Rovers have several of the top tacklers in the league in Sean Kilpatrick, Algee Macon and Kurtis Crossman. Macon has eight sacks while Crossman and Kilpatrick have combined for seven. Andrew Biddle and Sean McPeek have combined for 11 of the team’s 15 interceptions.
Falcone has been a fixture on the staff for years, going back to the Steve Shiffert era.
“Coach Falcone played at Pleasant Valley and then went to the Navy and then played at East Stroudsburg for Denny Douds,” Senneca said. “He has been around a long time and knows the game.”
Falcone will be tasked with stopping a strong offensive line and a plethora of playmakers on the Parkland offense, led by running back TJ Lawrence, who has rushed 1,092 yards and 26 touchdowns and has three receiving TDs.
“We know Parkland is a good team with tremendous athletes,” Macon said. “It’s going to take everything. We haven’t seen them for a couple of years, which kind of freshens things up since we play a lot of the same teams. We don’t really know them except through film. Coach Falcone preaches effort and getting 11 hats to the ball. We’re just going to go put our heads down and just battle.”
Macon said he’s trying to take it day by day and treat it like any other game.
“But it’s hard to do that because the excitement is building as the week goes on,” he said. “The last time we were even in the district final it was against Parkland [in 2014]. Coach [Michael] Fleming, our offensive line coach, was on that team. So it has been awhile. I am excited. We’ve just got to focus on our game plan and go out and execute.”
