These days, playing Parkland can be rather daunting.

The Trojans entertained Whitehall last week in the midst of a six-game winning streak in which they had outscored their opponents, 256-49.

Against Whitehall, Parkland didn’t miss a beat, as they posted a convincing 31-6 victory.

Parkland jumped out to a 28-7 halftime lead, and they never looked back. Quarterback Osmany Guzman threw for 195 yards with a pair of touchdowns and running back T.J. Lawrence ran for 151 yards with a touchdown, as the Trojans moved out to 8-1.

With the defeat, Whitehall slipped to 3-6.

Zephyrs’ head coach Andy Marino noted his team’s slow start.

“Our team responded in the second half,” said Marino. “We didn’t stop playing. We can’t dig ourselves in a hole that big against anyone. We need to play more consistent, complementary football.”

Sophomore quarterback Tanner Dogmanits completed 14 of 21 attempts for 175 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also saw a slow response.

“The Parkland game didn’t go how we wanted it to go,” he said. “Our offense wasn’t getting points on the board, and our defense played a good solid second half.”

Junior wide receiver Talon Dogmanits, his brother, also saw a similar picture.

“I think our offense just couldn’t get going in the beginning,” said Talon. “They jumped on us early. In the second half our defense play really good but our offense just struggled until the very end.”

The Zephyrs will end the regular season hosting Allentown Central Catholic (4-5) Friday night. Central Catholic is coming off a 34-9 win over Dieruff last week. Whitehall finds itself in a near must-win situation to readjust for the upcoming district playoffs.

“I see Central as a game we need to win,” added Tanner Dogmanits. “It’s our last game of regular season, and going into playoffs we need to finish the season strong so we have a lot of energy and motivation into the next week.”

“Central is a huge game because they have a very similar record to us and are definitely a team we can beat,” added Talon Dogmanits. “It would be huge because then we have momentum and confidence going into districts.”

Senior safety and wide receiver Brandon Bird feels his team needs to play a complete game.

“We need to play a full four quarters on both sides of the ball this week,” he said. “We can’t just play for one half.”

PREDICTION (season record 3-6): Central downed Whitehall last season, 30-16, and Whitehall routed Central, 37-6 in 2022. From there, the Vikings won the previous three meeting in 2019, 2020, and 2021 ... Whitehall is second in the District 11 Class 5A bracket, and they have secured the spot. The Zephyrs likely will open the district playoffs against Pocono Mountain East, and they will be gunning for their third-straight title ... Carter Troxell led the Zephyrs with eight tackles and Henry Schultz added 7 against Parkland. Tanner Dogmanits had 57 yards rushing, and Talon Dogmanits caught five balls for 64 yards ... Tanner Dogmanits has completed 105 of 170 attempts for 1,127 yards with four touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and Talon Dogmanits has 43 receptions for 642 yards with three touchdowns for the season ... Bird has a team-high 32 tackles, Justus Miles had 30, and Schultz has 29 for the season. Tanner Dogmanits leads the team in rushing with 294 yards for the season ... This is a must game for the Zephyrs for respectability and momentum ... It will be about stringing an entire game together on both sides of the ball ... This could be one of the better games of the weekend, but the Zephyrs should be able to pull this out. Coach Jeff Jones will pick me up another cheesesteak from SMP Mini-Mart ... ZEPHYRS, 24-21.