Even if the District XI website did not acknowledge it officially, the Northampton football team had mathematically clinched a playoff berth before their game against Bethlehem Catholic kicked off last Friday.

That aside, the K-Kids and Golden Hawks were playing for pride as neither had won a division game in the realigned EPC. For Northampton, it was also an opportunity to beat a team from the former EPC South, a sore spot as they were piling up massive win totals playing in the North Division.

Down 20-7 with under 3 minutes left in the game, the K-Kids rallied for 14 points to snatch victory from the jaws of the defeat for the 21-20 win.

There were many heroes for Northampton in those the final minutes.

First, Aiden Hess, on in relief of Gavin Taff, hit Tymir Williams for a 30-yd touchdown in the back of the end zone. Hess was refreshingly honest in his assessment of the play, “We drew that one up before. I really didn’t know if it was going to work because it was a hitch and go, so it takes a lot of time, but I stayed patient in the pocket and I honestly just threw up a prayer. Tymir was down there and he made a great play on the ball.”

There was an unsportsmanlike conduct called on Northampton after the TD and Becahi elected to force Aaron Gutkowski to attempt the crucial PAT from 35 yards out. The senior kicker drilled it to make the score 20-14.

With 2:43 left in the game, Northampton head coach John Toman elected to try an onside kick to get the ball back. Trevor Messer laid the ball on its side, without a tee, and hit a spinning kick 11 yards that Dom Barkanic jumped on to give the ball back to the K-Kids.

Toman explained the decision and the kick, “(It came out) In practice. He did it to us. And we were like, ‘He can really do it.’ We were debating on whether to kickoff and use our timeouts. The onside kick gives us two opportunities to get the ball. He does a really good job with. I tell the kids, ‘You never know when the bell’s going to ring and give you your chance to make a play’ and he did it.”

Despite the euphoria in the stands after the recovery, Northampton still needed to put the ball in the end zone. A mixture of Hess runs and a couple of passes to Williams set the K-Kids up with 4th and 3 at the 11 with 46 seconds left.

Hess’ next pass wound up on the Lou Wolf Field turf, but an obvious pass interference on the Hawks breathed fresh life into the game. Zeke Spencer wasted no more downs as he took an inside handoff and beat the Becahi defense to the corner for a 6-yard touchdown.

Gutkowski made the extra point from the normal distance and after defending a couple of Hail Mary’s, the win belonged to Northampton.

Owen Stanchock, who blocked a field goal at the end of the first half to keep the Kids within striking distance, described the team’s resilience, “It was the seniors. It was their last regular season game and us juniors and sophomores just had to come out and do it for them.”