Hits and misses in the second quarter left the Whitehall Zephyrs and the Pocono Mountain West Panthers to make halftime adjustments in their District XI Class 5A football semifinal on Nov. 3 when the Zephyrs shut out the Panthers in the second half to win, 34-10, at Whitehall.

“Their defense was pretty fast, but once we fixed things in the second half, I think we matched up pretty well,” said Whitehall junior Carter Troxell. “We were able to run the ball, throw the ball, do everything.”

Whitehall and West were even after the first quarter, 7-7.

The Panthers settled for a field goal midway through the second quarter to take the lead, and the Zephyrs were unable to score on their possession, but when Cole Richards’ punt bounced off a West player, Jack Kocher recovered the ball at West’s 45-yard line.

“Momentum didn’t swing our way until they muffed a punt, and we got it back, and we were able to score on that drive,” said Zephyr quarterback Trey Dogmanits (121 passing yards).

After a holding penalty on Whitehall, Dogmanits completed a 21-yard pass on third-and-15 to Kaden Weaver for a touchdown with 33 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Andrew Deutsch kicked the extra point.

“We were kid of going backwards on the three plays before that,” said Weaver. “We got down in the red zone, and I told Trey on that play I’d be open. We ran it before in the game. It worked out well. I was wide open, and he found me right away.”

The Zephyrs took the lead into the locker room and came out in the third quarter to pick up where they left off with Dogmanits’ 32-yard pass to Talon Dogmanits for another touchdown.

After Whitehall running back Dalton Wickel (114 rushing yards) scored, the snap for the extra point went past Deutsch who had to chase down the ball with no conversion.

Whitehall wide receiver Braden Bashore intercepted a long pass from Panther quarterback Ryder Bray (165 passing yards). Wickel had a 23-yard run to West’s 27-yard line, but the Zephyrs were unable to score on the drive.

Troxell’s 40-yard run in the fourth quarter set up better field position for the Zephyrs on West’s 39-yard line.

“The linemen blocked great on it. I just couldn’t break it off, a little too slow,” said Troxell, who ran for 3 yards and the Zephyrs’ final touchdown on the same drive. “Shoutout to all my linemen. They did great.”

Whitehall will meet Southern Lehigh in the district final on Nov. 10 at Alumni Field, Catasauqua.

“That’s gonna be a tough one,” said Dogmanits. “We can’t come out as slow as we did in this game. I think we’ve got it in us, and we’ve just gotta want it.”