Entering Friday night’s much-anticipated “Battle of the Unbeatens” between Parkland and Nazareth at the Blue Eagles’ Andy Leh Stadium, all the focus was on Nazareth’s quarterback situation.
But as it turned out, the spotlight shined the brightest on the Parkland quarterback.
Trojans’ junior Finn Coen had his finest moment, getting a big 51-yard run to set up his team’s first score and then he threw a pair of touchdown passes to pace Parkland to an impressive 42-6 mercy-rule victory over the host Blue Eagles.
Nazareth sophomore Cooper Madson got his first career start after the injury to senior star and Auburn commit Peyton Falzone. Madson didn’t play poorly, completing 16 of 22 passes for 141 yards in the first half. Matt Leluga made a superb one-handed grab for a 21-yard touchdown late in the first half.
The problem was Parkland was already leading 28-0 by the time the Blue Eagles got on the board. TJ Lawrence ran for two touchdowns and also caught a TD pass from Coen.
Coen finished with 66 yards rushing and was an efficient 6-for-8 passing for 89 yards as the Trojans excelled in all three facets to join Easton — an easy winner over Emmaus — as the only unbeaten teams left in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference at the midway point of the regular season.
Parkland outgained Nazareth 317-241 and also shone on special teams, getting a blocked punt for a score — Naquon Thomason got a hand on the ball and Dom Matrich ran it in — and two long punt returns by Nassim Adams.
One of Adams’ returns covered 62 yards and set up the Trojans at the Nazareth 4. Liam Spang scored on the next play. The other return went for 48 yards to the Blue Eagles’ 31, and Lawrence scored on the third play from 25 yards out.
Special teams coach Bob Ruisch works those units hard in practice and it paid off in the game.
“Coach Ruisch got on us all week about setting up a wall, and I appreciate my guys for setting up,” Adams said. “They overpursued on the coverage and I saw the cutback lanes and took it. It was a great team effort, and I’m proud of my guys. Coaches talk about a full 48 minutes and we played a great game.”
Parkland coach Tim Moncman agreed.
“We just want to keep getting better and keep working hard,” Moncman said. “We played well in all three phases tonght. Coach Ruisch spends a lot of time on special teams, and it’s important to us. And Finn keeps getting better and better. He made a mistake tonight and threw an interception, but he bounced back. We’re able to run him a little bit and that keeps defenses honest with defending TJ [Lawrence]. Finn is stepping up and being a leader.”
Coen, the son of the late Andy Coen, a longtime Lehigh football coach, said: “We knew what we were getting from Nazareth, but we just focus on ourselves and try to keep getting better every single day. We keep that mentality through the game and that works for us. I’ve tried to get better and better each week as a quarterback and as a team. That’s what it’s all about.”
Nazareth coach Tom Falzone knows that his team, which is dealing with the loss of the area’s biggest star, will also get better.
“Special teams hurt us tonight and they capitalized on it for two scores, but I thought our defense played well,” Falzone said. “At halftime, I thought we were all right. Our offense showed some signs at times. I give Coop a ton of credit. He stepped in a tough situation against a really good team and a really good defense. Tim [Moncman] does a great job with them. You’ve got to put some points on the board, and we didn’t capitalize. We’ve just got to keep growing.”
Did you know?
Each week, District 11 statistician Duke Helm provides the media with tidbits on past accomplishments.
This week, he put out a list of 400-yard single-game rushing performances. The list starts with Easton’s Nysir Minney-Gratz running for 469 yards in a 56-41 win over Nazareth in 2015. Minney-Gratz scored six touchdowns in the game.
No. 2 is Whitehall’s Nick Kurtz rushing for 429 yards against Freedom in 1999 in a 41-14 victory over Freedom. Kurtz scored four touchdowns in the game. Central Catholic’s Colin McDermott is third with 422 yards against Becahi in 2012 in a 42-7 win. McDermott, a recent inductee into Central’s Wall of Fame, scored five TDs.
Parkland breaks into the list at No. 6 with Austin Scott running for 402 yards in a 49-13 win over Freedom in 2002. Scott scored six touchdowns in the game.
Helm said there are 14 schools with just one 300-yard performance, and Nazareth makes the list with Chuck Dibilio running for 334 yards and seven TDs in a 63-24 rout of Williamsport in 2010.
The series
Entering Friday night’s game, Parkland held a 28-19 lead in its series with Nazareth, which began in 1955. The Blue Eagles won the first eight games in the series.
Between 1998 and the first of two meetings in 2019, Parkland won 16 of 18 times.
Parkland is 4-3 in the last seven contests, and the teams have played six times in the District 11 playoffs with each winning three times. The Blue Eagles are 2-0 in district finals, however, winning 22-21 in 2019 and 24-17 in 2023.
In the 47 previous games between the two, Parkland averaged 22.8 points and Nazareth 17.4.
What’s next
Parkland will play its next three games against Allentown teams, starting with a Thursday night home game against Allen. The Trojans are at Dieruff on Oct. 3 and host Allentown Central Catholic on Oct. 10.
Nazareth visits Pleasant Valley on Thursday night and then is home for two games in a row with Liberty coming to Leh Stadium on Oct. 3 and Bethlehem Catholic visiting the Blue Eagles on Oct. 10. Jahan Dotson will have his No. 5 jersey retired in a special ceremony either before or at halftime of the Becahi game. It’s part of the program’s 100th year of football celebration.
Scoring summary
Parkland 14 – 14 – 14 – 0 — 42
Nazareth 0 – 6 – 0 – 0 — 6
FIRST QUARTER
P: TJ Lawrence 4 run (Greyson Dancsecs kick), 3:58
P: Dom Matrich 16 run with blocked punt (Dancsecs kick), 2:07
SECOND QUARTER
P: Lawrence 26 pass from Finn Coen (Dancsecs kick), 10:06
P: Liam Spang 4 run (Dancsecs kick), 7:52
N: Matt Leluga 21 pass from Cooper Madson (kick failed), 4:46
THIRD QUARTER
P: Lawrence 25 run (Dancsecs kick), 9:34
P: Blake Nassry 25 pass from Finn Coen (Dancsecs kick), 2:58
https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/19/parkland-stays-unbeaten-routs-nazareth-behind-balanced-attack/
