A visit from Pocono Mountain West was just what the Northampton football team needed as the regular season entered its second half, an opportunity to put away an overmatched opponent and give their starters a chance at a light workload to refresh for a tough closing stretch.

The K-Kids didn’t miss their chance as they buried their former EPC North rival 42-6 on a rare Thursday night contest at Al Erdosy Stadium.

Head coach John Toman welcomed the chance to see more of his roster on the field, “We’ve been in five competitive, tough games and we haven’t had a chance to see some of the young kids play, which is completely opposite of years past. It was 28-6 at the half and we were in there like, ‘Billy Stuhldreher’s done. We can’t afford him getting injured.’ In the past, we’d try to do a drive to make sure our kids were playing in the second half, but we’re not worried about them being in shape now.”

Stuhldreher did plenty of damage while he was in the game amassing 126 total yards from scrimmage on 15 rushes and 3 receptions. He tallied three first half touchdowns on ground, including the Kids’ first two scores.

The two most explosive plays for Northampton came early in the third quarter. Aiden Hess returned the second half kickoff 68 for a touchdown. Four minutes later, Zeke Spencer scampered 63 yards for the final score of the night.

The Kids’ defense did their normal standout job as they held the Panthers to negative 7 yards rushing for the game. West’s only score was from five yards out in the first quarter following a long interception return.

Gavin Taff was 8 of 13 passing for 97 yards. Tymir Williams caught 2 passes for 55 yards in the first half. Cameron Hersch hauled in 3 balls for 18 yards.

The win moves Northampton to 4-2 on the season with four tough EPC opponents left to play. Easton, Freedom, Nazareth, and Bethlehem Catholic are a combined 19-5 this year.

Before the game there was a moment of silence to honor the memories of Rianna Glass and Kim Davis. Glass, a Northampton High School student, was the victim of a domestic violence-based homicide last September.

Davis, a Northampton Class of 1970 alumnus, passed away September 18. His connections to Northampton sports extend to his playing days as a multisport athlete in high school to coaching several teams, most recently boys and girls tennis.

He was also the voice of Northampton sports as the public address announcer for many athletic events, including football. Many in attendance on Thursday, including the coaching staff, wore T-shirts with the line, “Ride, boldly ride” from Davis’ favorite poem, Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe.