The first five weeks of the regular season did not go the way that the Parkland High School football team would have liked. The Trojans started 2-3 overall, all three losses to teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division.

But the ship may have been righted over the course of the last two weekends, both victories for Parkland, both against teams from the North Division in Pleasant Valley and East Stroudsburg South.

Assistant coach Mike Facchiano has seen an uptick in positive energy from the team at practice, especially with some key starters returning from injuries the last few weeks.

“The return of starters like Luke Spang and Nakhi Bullock, combined with two good weeks of practice, certainly has the energy level boosted up,” said Facchiano. “Having a Saturday game is a great way to build off the last two weeks with an extra day of preparation, especially having more individual time with position groups.”

Last Friday night at Parkland School District Stadium, the Trojans (4-3) defeated the Cavaliers 57-8, scoring 50 points in the first half, all but putting the game away by halftime.

Spang threw for a touchdown, caught by Bullock, and ran for another. Trey Tremba ran for two scores. All three of those players have missed games this season due to injuries. But with them back, Parkland is a team to be reckon with in the conference and District 11.

Now, with the nondivisional games out of the way and three games remaining in the regular season, the Trojans will look to keep that positive momentum moving forward. That begins with a Saturday night road game at Bethlehem Catholic, who is also 4-3. The Hawks are coming off a 28-14 win at Easton last Friday night. Before that, they lost two in-a-row to Emmaus and Northampton.

“With regards to Bethlehem Catholic, you see a couple different factors that make them a dangerous team,” Facchiano said. “They have good size on their offensive/defensive lines, linebackers that are aggressive, and talented skill players. Big emphasis will be to limit turnovers/penalties and rely on our own linemen to set tone of the game Saturday night.”

A win would give Parkland three consecutive and push them into potentially sole possession of a top-four spot in the division. Currently, they sit in a tie with three other teams.