One half of Peyton Falzone was more than enough for Nazareth on Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.
The star quarterback threw for 327 yards and and was part of an unstoppable Blue Eagles attack that scored on its first six possessions in building a 42-21 halftime lead over Freedom.
While Falzone took off his pads and had an ice pack on his left shoulder throughout the second half, Nazareth stayed hot and used a long Marquez Wimberly run and a long TD pass from sophomore Cooper Madson to Luke DePietro to put a 56-21 mercy-rule victory on ice.
The win in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference put the Blue Eagles at 4-0 and set up a battle of the unbeatens Friday night at Leh Stadium when Nazareth welcomes Parkland, which rolled to a 58-13 win over Pleasant Valley Thursday night.
Nazareth compiled 451 yards of offense in the first half and finished with over 700.
After trailing 14-7 with 4:40 left in the first quarter, the Blue Eagles scored the next 35 points. Nazareth then scored the final 14 after the Patriots (1-3) closed within 42-21.
While the game was never in doubt after halftime, the status of Falzone was.
“He went to the hospital to get checked out and it’s his non-throwing shoulder,” his father and Nazareth coach Tom Falzone said. “So, we’ll see where we are. But we have to have the ‘next man up’ mentality and Cooper Madson went in and stepped up. He did a really good job and our offensive staff has really been locked in with these guys this year. We were executing at a high level today which was good and on top of that our defense played well after giving up some stuff early. Freedom didn’t score in the second half.”
According to Nazareth statistician Earl Peck, Falzone completed 14 of 20 passes in the first half for 327 yards and two TDs. He also had 42 yards rushing and a TD.
Tanner Zelachowski had five catches for 195 yards and two scores, including an 80-yarder in which he was wide open down the middle of the field.
“I gotta say that we were game-planning all week and we kind of knew what would be open,” Zelachowski said. “I got the lucky number. They were playing a certain way in the first half. They kind of fixed it in he second half, but at that point we didn’t have to throw the ball that much anymore.”
That’s because Wimberly was also having a big night. He finished with 145 yards on 19 carries and scored four touchdowns. He was also a force from his safety position on defense.
“I got the most faith in my team,” Wimberly said. “We have the best offense, the best defense and when Peyton went down we had Cooper stepping up. I just love my team, man. The biggest thing is the next man up. I am proud of Cooper, I am proud of my line. I am proud of everybody.”
What’s next
While Nazareth hosts Parkland in one of the most-anticipated games of the regular season, Freedom has Allen and East Stroudsburg South over the next two Fridays before returning to the Northampton County Division for its last four games starting with Bethlehem Catholic on Oct. 2.
Did you know?
According to District 11 statistician Duke Helm, Falzone entered Friday’s game leading District 11 with 833 passing yards. He also had 51 career TD passes and 5,497 yards passing to go with 1,370 yards rushing and 25 TDs on the ground.
Lashawn Johnson’s 210 yards rushing against Allentown Central Catholic was the fourth-best single season rushing performance in District 11 through the first three weeks of the season. The top three were: Cayden Vassa’s 260 yards against Emmaus, North Schuylkill’s Luke Miller’s 237 vs. Mount Carmel and Marian’s Rory Dixon’s 226 vs. Hanover Area.
Prior to last night, Nazareth and Freedom had met 26 times, beginning in 2000, and the series was tied at 13-13. The most prominent meeting was the 2020 6A District 11 championship game, won by Nazareth 37-29.
Roeder and Falzone had gone head-to-head 11 times prior to Friday night and Roeder was 6-5 in those matchups.
Freedom, which began its program in 1967, is 309-313 all-time. Roeder, in his 21st season, was 147-84 entering Friday’s game.
Scoring summary
Nazareth 14 – 28 – 7 – 7–56
Fredom 14 – 7 – 0 – 0 — 21
FIRST QUARTER
F: Lashawn Johnson 3 run (Nathan Stannard kick), 10:46
N: Tanner Zelachowski 2 pass from Peyton Falzone (Owen Hall kick), 8:05
F: Jahaire Hughes 5 run (Stannard kick), 4:40
N: Marquez Wimberly 27 run (Hall kick), 3:43
SECOND QUARTER
N: Tanner Zelachowski 80 pass from Falzone (Hall kick) 11:36
N: Falzone 1 run (Hall kick), 8:14
N: Wimberly 5 run (Hall kick), 4:36
F: Devyan Moore 49 pass from Michael Stofanak (Stannard kick), 3:29
N: Wimberly 42 run (Hall kick), 2:07
THIRD QUARTER
N: Wimberly 49 run (Hall kick), 6:15
FOURTH QUARTER
N: Lue DiPietro 76 pass from Cooper Madson (Hall kick), 9:58
