The lingering thoughts of a loss to Bethlehem Catholic three weeks ago are officially gone.

Since then, Whitehall has posted three impressive victories and has found itself among the East Penn Conference (EPC) elite with an overall 4-1 record. Their latest triumph was an impressive, 29-28 victory over Freedom in an emotional game on a few levels.

In the first possession of overtime, Zephyrs’ running back Dalton Wickel went down with an injury and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher and was taken to a hospital. However, Zephyrs’ head coach Andy Marino stated that Wickel is “good” as he attended the team meeting the following day.

That’s especially good news for the Zephyrs as they will travel to undefeated Parkland (5-0) Friday night.

Whitehall will need to shake off any emotions left from their win over Freedom, which was a drainer.

“It’s just great to see the kids play with emotion,” said Whitehall first-year head coach Andy Marino. “It’s a beautiful sport, but sometimes the scars are deep.”

Senior quarterback Trey Dogmanits had another strong game for the third week in a row, as he connected on 11 of 25 passes for 118 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Wickel ran for a team-high 73 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown.

Dogmanits is convinced his team has reached a new level. The Zehyrs have downed Easton, Emmaus, and Freedom in order.

Now, two stern tests against Parkland and Nazareth loom ahead.

“Having two wins back-to-back against two good teams is great,” said Dogmanits. “We showed again that we can compete with anyone in the league. We are confident, but we know that next week we face one of the toughest teams in the Valley.

“We need to have a great week of practice and need to limit the mental errors in order to beat a good Parkland team.

“However, the more we play, the better we get, and we are looking to take out success at home and transfer it to the away games.”

Marino also sees his team growing each week.

“We have collectively gotten better as a team since week one,” he said. “Parkland is a balanced team. They can win may different ways. That’s the sign of a good program and team.”

PREDICTION (Record 4-1): Whitehall will host Nazareth next week, then they will end the regular season with road games against Allentown Central Catholic, Liberty, and Northampton. For the season, Dogmanits has completed 50 of 97 attempts for 733 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions ... Wickel has run for a team-high 346 yards on 63 carries with six touchdowns ... Braden Bashore is the Zephyrs’ leading receiver with 17 receptions for 197 yards and three touchdowns ... Parkland quarterback Luke Spang completed 14 of 213 for 280 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions against Central Catholic ... Running back Trey Tremba rambled for 188 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns ... Jake Beidelman and Jarrett Graham each had eight tackles for the Trojans ... Parkland limited Central Catholic to 157 total yards ... Zephyrs beat Parkland 32-31 in an overtime thriller last year, and it was their first win since they posted a 38-24 victory in 2014 snapping a streak of seven straight defeats ... Parkland and Nazareth are considered to be the elite of the league with Whitehall and Becahi on their heels ... Zephyrs have gained confidence, poise, and character during their winning streak, and Marino certainly has raised the bar with plenty of new faces in the lineup ... Parkland is a tough place to play, and the Trojans take advantage of very opportunity.