A week after their big win over Bethlehem Catholic, the Northampton football team started their EPC North campaign with a 33-6 road win over Pocono Mountain West.

The K-Kids struggled in the first quarter, losing a fumble on their first possession and giving up the opening score of the game on a 45-yard run.

Head coach John Toman explained.

“We got on the bus late getting up here and we were just a little flat,” he said. “I’m sure there was a hangover from last week. That was such an emotional roller coaster. We laid an egg in the first half. We turned the ball over. We shot ourselves in the foot. I told them at halftime, ‘As bad as we played, we’re still winning.’”

Northampton responded to the PM West touchdown by driving 80 yards on the subsequent possession, capped off by a Jaelen Richardson 2-yard run. The Vincent Santostefano PAT put the Kids up 7-6 early in the second quarter.

A muffed punt by the Kids set the Panthers up at the Northampton 23, but the defense held strong, forcing a turnover on downs. Santostefano converted a 40-yard FG at the end of the ensuing drive to give the K-Kids a 10-6 lead at the half.

The third quarter belonged to sophomore tailback Caden Henritzy and the Konkrete Kids’ defense. Henritzy had 84 of his 126 rushing yards in the period, scored a paired of touchdowns, and was the receiver on a 2-point conversion.

The defense held the Panthers to -3 yards for the quarter and tacked on a safety for good measure. At the end of three, the score was 26-6.

Everett Luisi completed the scoring on the evening with a 7-yard run out of the Wildcat formation with 6:31 left in the game.

Quarterback Cooper King was 15 of 24 for 157 yards passing. No TDs or INTs.

Henritzy was the workhorse, getting 22 touches for his 126 yards. Luisi finished with 20 yards rushing. Richardson and Brett Rickert both had 19 yards on the ground. Tristen Pinnock had 18.

Pinnock was the leading receiver with 4 catches for 59 yards. Victor Hunt had 2 for 29. Rickert had a 22-yard catch and run to convert a 3rd and 18 on the Kids’ second touchdown drive of the second half. Mike Coleman added a catch for 15 yards. Jaelen Richardson contributed 4 for 14.

AJ Slivka led the team with 5.5 tackles. Andrew Sharga and Austin Cavallo each recorded a sack. Richardson had an interception in the end zone to snuff out West’s last good scoring chance in the fourth quarter.

Next up for the Kids is a trip to Stroudsburg on Friday. The Mountaineers were projected as contenders for the EPC North title, but their first two games have yielded mixed results. They are coming off a 44-0 win over a struggling Pocono Mountain East squad after losing their opening weekend game to Emmaus by a score of 51-0.