For Whitehall’s football team, a few weeks have made a big difference.

The Zephyrs began the season with a 4-1 record, and they quickly became one of the area’ more interesting stories with first-year head coach Andy Marino after two-time district champion head coach Matt Senneca left the program for Easton.

However, Marino and company hope the bubble hasn’t burst.

After last week’s 41-17 defeat to Nazareth, Whitehall has fallen to 4-3 overall. They suffered a 36-7 to undefeated Parkland the previous week.

Against Nazareth, Whitehall had 221 total yards and lost two fumbles. The Zephyrs will host Allentown Central Catholic Friday. The Vikings upped their record to 5-2 overall with a last-second, 23-20 victory over Liberty last week.

“We’ve got to coach better,” said Marino. “There were too many penalties, too many big plays. We’ve got one game next week; we have to prepare to play our best against Central.”

Zephyrs’ senior quarterback Trey Dogmanits, who became the school’s all-time touchdown passing leader (38) with his seven-yard pass to Braden Bashore, is confident his team can bounce back. He completed 10 of 25 passes for 165 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

“The game didn’t end the way we wanted, but we showed glimpses of great things,” he said. “We drove the ball consistently but just ended up walking away with field goals. Whenever we get in the red zone, we have to capitalize and walk away with seven.

“I think we are in good shape to compete for three wins to wrap up the season. ACC is a well-rounded team that we need to focus on. We can’t dwell on the loss and need to get back in the win column this week.”

Senior running back Dalton Wickel, who is expected back in the lineup this week after an upper-body injury, also has kept the faith.

“The Nazareth game was a tough one, but the score did not reflect how well we played,” said Wickel. “I think the team has just had a couple of tough games. The offense, defense, and special teams are working very hard.

“I’m very confident with the leadership from our coaches and our captains that we are going to turn it around against Central and the rest of the season. We’re coming for Central!”

PREDICTION (Overall record 2-5): Whitehall won last year’s meeting, 37-6, but ACC took the previous three – 21-7 in 2021, 34-13 in 2020, and 16-15 in 2019 ... Dogmanits has completed 73 of 124 attempts for 1,029 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions for the season ... Andrew Deutsch booted field goals of 28 and 38 against Nazareth. He has made three of five attempts this season ... Wickel is the team’s leading rusher with 346 yards, and Carter Troxell, who had 82 yards against Nazareth, has 221 ... Bashore is the leading receiver with 23 catches for 230 yards with four touchdowns, and Jack Kocher has 21 catches for 332 yards with two touchdowns ... Central also suffered losses to Parkland and Nazareth ... Whitehall is third in the District 11 Class 5A bracket, and ACC sits atop the Class 4A bracket ... This will be an entertaining game. Whitehall desperately needs the game to gain back respectability. Having the Vikings at home will help. This will be a true test for Marino and his staff. Something says Central, but I will lean slightly to Whitehall here. I think Zephyrs can pull out a late one here, and boys’ basketball coach Jeff Jones can pick me up a cheesesteak with Cooper cheese from SMP mini-mart ... ZEPHYRS, 24-21.