The Northampton football team continued their undefeated season and advanced to the District XI semifinals for the second consecutive season by taking down Stroudsburg last Friday 14-7. The K-Kids did not put the winning points on the board until there were five-and-a-half minutes left in the game, leading to some anxious moments for the Konkrete Kids faithful in a game they expected to be a walkover.

Head coach John Toman offered an explanation for the tight game, “It’s the playoffs. Anytime you play a team a second time – we were worried about it all week. The first time we played, we wound up Mercy Ruling them (41-4). In a high school kid’s eyes, you Mercy Rule a team, you don’t need to take them seriously. We didn’t practice very well, and we told them, ‘If you don’t come to play you’re going to be in a dogfight.’ And that’s what happened.”

Both teams had their initial possessions stopped in the opposing red zone. The Northampton defense got a stop on 4th and 2 from their 11 to halt the Mounties who had gained 51 yards on a QB keeper on the first play of the game. The Kids’ drive was short-circuited by a holding penalty.

Stroudsburg’s star tailback, Andre Reames, who did not play in the first meeting between the teams, put the Mountaineers on top with the 48-yard run on their second drive. Of the 9 touchdowns the Kids have surrendered this year, 4 have been on runs between 48 and 54 yards.

Northampton equalized with under a minute left in the first half. Five straight completions by QB Antonino Russo got the ball down to the Stroudsburg 3 and AJ Slivka powered over from there after making a would-be tackler miss in the backfield.

Slivka also scored the winning touchdown, an 11-yard off tackle run over the right the side. He carried the ball the Kids’ final 10 plays from scrimmage, all power runs out of the Wildcat formation. The punishment he took was evident from the bloody nose and bloody hand he had by the time the game was over.

Slivka described how felt to be entrusted with the Kids’ playoff hopes late in the game, “It felt wonderful. I came up big and as a team we just did great. It wasn’t the score that we would have liked, but definitely glad we came out with a win.”

Russo was 16 of 22 for 96 yards and an interception. Jaelen Richardson was the leading receiver with 6 catches for 47 yards. Caden Henritzy was the team’s leading rusher with 61 yards on 14 carries. Henritzy is exactly 100 yards from the school’s single-season rushing record.

In the district semifinals, the K-Kids will take on Parkland. The Trojans advanced by beating Nazareth 42-14, although the Blue Eagles were without QB and EPC South Most Valuable Player Sonny Sasso, who was injured.

Parkland is 7-4 this year, with losses to Nazareth (28-10), Central (21-14), Whitehall (32-21), and Emmaus (40-27) in their regular season finale. The Trojans had some injury issues of their own early in the season which caused them to be 2-3 halfway through the 2022 campaign.

The Kids are 11-0 on the season, but Mother Nature’s undefeated streak goes back before the beginning of recorded time. With the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole due to pass through our area on Friday, the Northampton/Parkland game was moved to Thursday at 7 p.m. at Al Erdosy Stadium. Tickets must be purchased online (65 and older are free).

The EPC named its division All-Star teams this week and given that the Kids’ average margin against EPC North foes was almost 45 points a game, they were well represented.

Junior running back Caden Henritzy was named the Most Valuable Player (Offense). Senior inside linebacker Carson Czarnecki claimed the award for Most Valuable Player (Defense).

Several Northampton players earned multiple mentions. Jaelen Richardson earned three first-team placements – wide receiver, cornerback, and special teams. Christian Bundra was first-team offensive tackle and defensive lineman. Colby Reph made the second team at three positions: center, defensive lineman, defensive athlete. Tristan Pinnock was a first-team wide receiver and second-team cornerback. Antonino Russo was the second-team quarterback and the first-team punter.

Other All-Stars on offense: Luke Baker (1st, G), Avery Van Horn (1st, G), Aiden Salvatto (2nd, TE), Anthony Gordon (2nd, T).

Additional defensive All-Stars: Dylan Legath (1st, DE), AJ Slivka (1st, OLB), Mike Coleman (1st, S).