William Allen’s opening drive against Whitehall looked like the Canaries could be a handful for the Zephyrs, but three Zephyr touchdowns in the first half put that concern to rest, leading to a 35-0 mercy-rule victory on Oct. 11 at Whitehall.

“They came out and put the ball in their best player’s hands,” said Whitehall coach Andy Marino. “They got on the edge. We had to get off the blocks, and we were happy that we were able to limit the big runs.”

Allen senior running back Carlos Rodriguez ran for 49 yards early in the first quarter, taking the Canaries to Whitehall’s 13-yard line, but the Zephyr defense held Allen scoreless.

Whitehall opened the second quarter with its first touchdown of the night.

“I rolled out, the corner came up on me, he was hesitating, and then I saw Talon (Dogmanits) go up, so I knew if I dumped it over, I’d get it to him, and then, on the touchdown, there was confusion, and the play clock was going down to :02, so I just had to run for it,” said Zephyr quarterback Tanner Dogmanits.

Cole Richards’ extra point was blocked but good on the next after Tanner Dogmanits’ second touchdown with 5:18 remaining in the half.

William Allen struggled on punting, and Whitehall took advantage on a drive from Allen’s 7-yard line with a touchdown by Elias Lopez.

Allen’s second best opportunity to score came after quarterback Anthony Zambrana’s pass to Rodriguez for 40 yards, but with the ball on Whitehall’s 16-yard line, the Canaries were unable to score.

William Allen attempted an onside kick to start the second half, but the ball was recovered by Whitehall’s Nolan Schmeckenbecher, and after three Canary penalties, Lopez had his second touchdown of the night for the Zephs.

“Last week, we had a lot of penalties, and that really messed us up, so we wanted to get rid of all the penalties, and we knew if we played our game, we’d do good against them,” Tanner Dogmanits said. “I think we could’ve played better, and we should’ve, but it was 35-0, so it was a good win.”

Tanner Dogmanits’ pass to James Hopkins for 29 yards was 1 yard short of the end zone, but Dogmanits punched it in on the next play, followed by a 2-point conversion pass to Lopez.

“Our goal was to get to 35 so we could keep the clock going to shorten the game,” said Coach Marino. “We bowed up, had a couple big runs, but we have a lot of room to grow. Tonight was a sloppy game, so we definitely need to practice.”