The Whitehall Zephyrs and the Nazareth Blue Eagles were keeping pace with each other last Friday night, but a pick six by Nazareth’s Mason Kuehner in the opening minutes of the third quarter seemed to be the turning point in the Eagles’ 35-14 victory over the Zephyrs at Andrew S. Leh Stadium, Nazareth.

“We know Whitehall’s a good team, so we knew we had to make plays on both sides of the ball, and we made a lot of stops that were turning points for us where we capitalized on their mistakes,” Kuehner said. “We were just prepared for anything to happen.”

Nazareth took the early lead with two touchdowns in the first quarter, the first on a 10-yard run by Kuehner, and the second on a 25-yard pass by Blue Eagles quarterback Sonny Sasso to Kuehner.

“It was awesome to start the game making big plays to help my team, and it felt great to get off to a good start,” said Kuehner. “It was a perfect throw, right on the run, had a little bit of separation but not too much, and Sonny put it exactly where I could get it, and it was right in the back of the end zone.”

But Whitehall tied the game with two consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter.

Damonte Foreman ran in for two of his 81 yards to put the Zephyrs on the board, and a 40-yard touchdown pass from Trey Dogmanits, who threw for 253 yards on Friday night, to Devin Donatelli tied the game.

“We started off the day great, and then Whitehall comes firing back,” said Nazareth coach Tom Falzone. “That young kid threw the heck out of the ball.”

On Nazareth’s next possession, Sasso completed a pass to Tyler Rohn for 25 yards. Rohn rushed for 13 more yards before putting the Blue Eagles ahead, 21-14.

“I enjoyed getting all those carries, but I’m not getting all those carries if my line’s not up there fighting, so I always give credit to them,” Rohn said. “I think it was just a good team win. Overall, everybody doing their job is why we accumulated points and points.”

The Zephyrs, who have been plagued by injuries, were shut out in the fourth quarter, but so were the Blue Eagles.

“My hat goes off to Whitehall. I taught there for 20 years, I know all those kids over there when I look over at the other side, and I know they’re going through those injuries and the coaches are doing what they can to get the group on the field,” said Coach Falzone. “I give them so much credit for what’s happened over there and how they’re getting through this thing. They’ve still got more ahead of them, I know, but I’m proud of my guys tonight.”