On the surface, there appeared to be few flaws in Bethlehem Catholic’s 35-7 victory at Whitehall last week.

Offensively, the Golden Hawks accumulated 344 yards, while defensively they limited Whitehall to 79 yards (7 yards rushing).

“Defensively, we played as well as you could play in week one,” said Becahi head coach Kyle Haas. “If we can duplicate that for every week, we will be in a very good situation.

“Their quarterback threw some great balls, but we were right there to break them up.”

Haas was pleased with the play of senior quarterback Luke Thomas, who made his first varsity start. Thomas completed 12 of 20 passes for 145 yards and rushed for 47 yards.

“I think he will get more and more confident,” said the second-year head coach. “It was his first start since 10th grade. He has some pressure, and he’ll look for things to improve upon.

“Offensively, we played well. We did have good field position all night as we had the ball inside their 50 (yard-line) four of our six possessions. We did leave some points on the field. There also were some things that we could have done better.”

It also was a rewarding night for senior running back Rahmel Terry, who missed the entire 2021 season with a knee injury. Terry finished the game with 19 carries for 98 yards.

“He had a good game and came back well from his injury,” stated Haas. “He ran extremely well. Terry can have a big year for us.”

Haas admittedly didn’t know what to expect from his club after a down 2-7 year last season. However, they didn’t disappoint, and they will host Pocono Mountain West at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium Friday night.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. I did have a good feeling, though, because of how we came together during the summer. When we won, I felt there was a huge weight off my shoulders since last November.

“We have to get better every week. We want to get revenge on Whitehall, but they are behind us now. It doesn’t matter who we play. It comes down to being about us.”

“But these guys bought into what we were telling them. This is a really close group, and more of a team this year. There is good chemistry, and a lot of good things can happen.”

PREDICTION: Pocono Mountain West will come into BASD Stadium off a 50-8 loss at Northampton last Friday night ... The Panthers were held to 105 total years, 22 on the ground ... The two teams met last year and the Golden Hawks delivered a 55-7 pummeling in the Poconos ... Haas expects PM West to play a lot of man-to-man and try to disrupt things ... ”They will bring people. Whitehall had some success with that.” ... Beca will look to go 2-0 for the first time since 2017 when they won their first six games on their way to a 12-3 season ... This looks like a perfect second game for the Golden Hawks. They can reassure themselves that they can compete in the always competitive East Penn Conference South Division, one Haas sees as a having “parity.” ... Last week’s win was huge to begin to restore the program, and this week can help to start cement that feeling ... Coach Haas will have to ship me a Whiz Kids’ cheesesteak ... BECA, 38-7