At halftime, Allentown Central Catholic’s marching band played Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” and that pretty much summed up Friday’s football game at Zephyr Stadium.

Well, if you liked offense it was certainly thrilling as both teams combined for 110 points. And if you found yourself sitting on Whitehall’s side of the bleachers, you found it especially thrilling since the home team scored 75 of those 110 points.

Whitehall scored 61 of those points by halftime, and no game in recent memory has come close to that kind of offensive output. Whitehall scored on offense, defense, and special teams, and kept ACC’s potent running attack from becoming the storyline in game four. Even though Logan Bachman rumbled for 147 yards, including two TDs, it was offset by Whitehall’s ability to answer every ACC score with one of its own.

The win gives the Zephyrs their first victory of the season. They’re now 1-3 and will travel to Bethlehem this Friday to meet undefeated Freedom who boasts wins over Bethlehem Catholic and Parkland this season.

While it was a thrilling win for the team, head coach Justin Kondikoff said it was just a small step toward where they want to be.

“I told the team that we’re going to enjoy that for 24 hours, and all that comes from the hard work that we put in all week,” said Kondikoff. “And it showed, it showed when they finally turned the page and believed in themselves, and put that outside doubt away and played as a team.”

It was Kondikoff’s first win as the Zephyr head coach, and assistant coach Mike Yadush presented him with the game ball after the game.

With an offense that generated 538 yards of total offense, almost every possession turned into points. Furthermore, they only had a couple of negative plays all night. It was an offense that found its rhythm early and never lost it.

“We kept it simple,” said Kondikoff. “We didn’t try to overload them with what we were doing throughout the week. We tried to keep it as simple as we could and got better at what we needed to get better at.”

To date, the second halves of their games have served as their Achilles’ heel. Before Friday’s win against ACC, they’ve only scored 14 points in their three losses. They’ve been able to play well in the first half of those games, scoring 56 points over those twenty-four minutes, but the final two quarters have told a different story.

Kondikoff said that flipping that script was a matter of staying focused and getting the little things right.

“We focused on details and that’s what we preached all week,” said Kondikoff. “That was holding us back, we weren’t paying attention to detail, and we really just focused on those things this week.”

This week they reversed that trend, setting the tone on the Viking’s first possession of the second half when they stuffed them on a fourth-and-one to take over on downs at ACC’s 48-yard-line.

While they didn’t convert on their ensuing possession, Allen Negrete turned in one of his many highlight reel plays on ACC’s next possession as he picked off Frank Rauscher’s pass and streaked 55 yards for the score. That pick six was aided by the quarterback hit leveled by Robert Schlenker who disrupted the throw.

In a game of multiple offensive stars (four players had two touchdowns or more), Negrete’s contribution was especially noteworthy. The junior completed the trifecta, scoring on offense, defense and special teams. He wound up with three touchdowns on the night and put up 138 yards of combined yards, while also covering 55 yards on that interception.

His first score was setup by one of his two catches, a 36-yard connection that put the ball inside Viking territory. He made a back shoulder catch, adjusting to Anthony Nanoah’s throw to put them in good field position.

Negrete, who said he’s being playing football since 6-years-old, has been aided in his growth by the tutelage of his father during the summers.

“I’ve been training with my dad every day, and in the summers I just worked hard,” said Negrete. “Hard work pays off.”

Later in the drive, he took the handoff on the reverse, and once he got to the far sideline, he cut back across the field and would up scoring on the 36-yard scamper.

Negrete finished with 36 yards rushing, and two TDs, while also hauling in two passes for 47 yards. But it was the 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that supplied the most joy. It was the first one he took to the house in a long time.

“It felt amazing to me,” said Negrete. “I was out of breath, and I was dead, so it was great to score.”

It wasn’t the first time he pulled off the trifecta. He accomplished it in middle school and Pee-Wee football.

Negrete said the key to beating the Vikings was just coming together as a team.

“We worked hard throughout the week, and we were tired of losing, and we had to come out strong, and we had to prove everyone wrong,” said Negrete.

Heading into the game, most of the predictions for victory would have favored ACC, and Negrete said it was a matter of staying together and overcoming adversity. His night was a testament to his production in all aspects of the game.

“You play all phases of the game, you get those opportunities,” said Kondikoff. “He took advantage of those opportunities and Allen Negrete had an unbelievable game.

Kondikoff also gave credit to their offensive line which allowed them to put up 75 points.

Joe Herman also had a big night for the Zephyrs. The wide receiver caught three passes for 177 yards, scoring three times.

The offense was also buoyed by Ali Barkley whose tough running up the gut resulted in a 25-yard TD run on the first play of the second quarter. Barkley scored again in the first half as he wasn’t about to be denied on a tough three-yard run that put the Zephs up 42-21.

Chad Hussett was equally effective running the ball, rushing for 90 yards and two scores.

Nanoah continues to progress under center. He had the best game to date of his young career, going 8-7 for 225 yards, including two TDs.

The Zephyrs also had four interceptions on defense, two of those resulting in pick sixes as Marcus Hamscher also found pay dirt when he pilfered aa ACC pass and raced 15-yards for the score.

Justin Santiago began the thievery when he intercepted a pass from his middle linebacker spot, while Anthony Johnson also had an interception that eventually led to a Hussett score.