For Northampton’s football team, it was exactly what they needed, and they never wavered.

The Konkrete Kids rallied from a 20-7 deficit to score 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to defeat Bethlehem Catholic, 21-20, last week.

After Northampton recovered an onsides kick, the Kids’ Zeke Spencer scored the game-winning touchdown.

Head coach John Toman kept the faith after he watched his team slip away.

“I saw us struggle to get going offensively for 3.5 quarters,” stressed Toman. “Defensively, we gave up a long touchdown in the second quarter on a blown coverage, but the defense played awesome all night and kept us in the game.

“Our kids never gave up and always kept fighting. I couldn’t be prouder of their effort.”

Toman noted a change in his offense’s flow late in the game. It turned the tide and gave them momentum.

“With 4.5 minutes left, we went no huddle. There were so many small contributions including the onsides kick recovery by Trevor Messer. Overall, it was a great team effort.”

When starting quarterback Gavin Taff left the game after a personal foul penalty from Beca, backup Aiden Hess tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Tymir Williams that brought the Kids back to 20-14.

Along with his teammates, it was a huge victory that Hess won’t soon forget.

“I would say this was a very big win for me in my career,” said Hess. “Gavin struggled a little bit and mistakes happened. Gavin’s a great player, and he got rung up a little bit on a play.

“I went in and did what I could with what I had. This was a much needed win to build confidence for the team toward the playoffs as we were on a three-game losing streak.”

Toman liked what he saw from Hess.

“Aiden came into the game after Gavin took the roughing the passer penalty, and he had missed the last several weeks due to sickness,” said Toman. “It forced us to use things that he was comfortable with. We reduced the playbook, and Aiden was able to execute enough to lead the comeback.

“I’m excited for him, knowing it’s difficult to transfer your senior year and coming in as a backup and understanding your role. It was a great night for him.”

With the win, Northampton snapped a three-game losing streak, and the Kids raised their overall record to 5-5. The seventh-seeded Kids will travel to Bethlehem Area School District Stadium to meet second-seeded Freedom Friday night in an opening-round, District 11 Class 6A matchup.

Toman understands what is at stake facing Freedom (9-1), which is coming off a 44-24 defeat of archrival Liberty behind Aaron Beete’s 359 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Freedom lost for the first time to Easton the previous week.

“Districts will be a huge challenge for us, but also a great opportunity with no pressure on us as the underdog,” stressed Toman. “Freedom presents all kinds of challenges with their pure size and athleticism. We did some good things offensively the past three weeks and we will try and build on that.

“Defensively, we need to figure a way to control the big plays.”

PREDICTION (season record 5-5): Freedom doubled-up Northampton, 42-21, during the regular season, and the Patriots have won the last three matchups ... Northampton beat Stroudsburg, 31-15, in the opening round of districts last year before they lost to Nazareth, 21-7 ... Freedom lost to Emmaus, 19-14, in the opening round last year ... Beete has 1,548 yards for the season with 17 touchdowns, and Chase Walker has thrown for 1,913 yards with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Sharce Clowell had 36 catches for 612 yards with seven touchdowns ... Taff is questionable for Friday’s game. He completed 11 of 19 for 96 yards with a score against Beca, and Hess went five for six for 64 yards, and he also rushed for 52 yards. Billy Stuhldreher had a team-high 63 yards rushing for the Kids. Owen Stanchock had a team-high six tackles ... Kids will need a Herculean effort here, and need to play ball control. This time around, I’ll owe assistant head coach Kevin Ronalds a cheesesteak from Sal’s in Wind Gap ... FREEDOM, 28-17.