Parkland Beats Whitehall 42-28 final

[RoverNation05]

Budding star sophomore Desmond Boykin scores a 66 yard TD to give the underdogs the lead. Center didn't know the snap count, Sinatore made a ridiculous 1 handed catch to get the snap, and hit Boykin on a slant.

 

[RoverNation05]

Devante Cross TD run on 4th and goal caps an 11 play drive to answer. 15-14 Trojans.

 

[RoverNation05]

Parkland muffs a punt, but the return man digs it out of three Whitehall players. Then Devante Cross fumbles, wrestles it away from a defensive lineman. Next play, on 2nd and 23, Cross uncorks a 77 yard TD pass.

 

[RoverNation05]

Whitehall field goal cuts it to 22-17. Long pass play to the tight end and a jet sweep to Boykin had them with first and goal, but a dropped TD and a pair of incompletions on Sinatore scrambles forced the FG.

 

[RoverNation05]

A long pass to Nolan Ridgway and a highlight reel run by Devante Cross sets up a 2 yard TD run by Cross to put the Trojans up 28-17.

Whitehall looks like they're a couple players short of being able to pull this off, but Parkland looks vulnerable.

 

[RoverNation05]

As I type that, a long screen pass to Bryce Crum sets up a 10 yard TD pass to right end Phil Reeves. Two-point conversion is good. Third quarter ends 28-25.

 

[RoverNation05]

So when Parkland is on the ropes, the plan is "go win it Devante". Cross gains all 50 yards of the Parkland scoring drive on QB runs. He's now over 100 yards rushing with 4 touchdowns, and has thrown for 275 yards and a TD.

 

[RoverNation05]

Whitehall stalls out again inside the 10, has to settle for a field goal. 35-28 with 6:19 left. Whitehall has all 3 timeouts.

 

[RoverNation05]

Whitehall gets the ball back at the 35, 3:40 to go, all three time outs, trailing 35-28.

 

[RoverNation05]

Sinatore stripped by DiGiralomo, that's your ball game. DiGiralomo is the runaway defensive player of the year in the EPC through 5 games.

 

[RoverNation05]

Cross picks up his 5th rushing TD of the night to take advantage of the short field and stretch the margin to 42-28.

 

[RoverNation05]

Cross was13-22 for273 yards and a TD and carried 27 times for 137 yards and 5 TDs.

 

[EPC FAN]

Cross was13-22 for273 yards and a TD and carried 27 times for 137 yards and 5 TDs.

I usually hate to use the term "young" to describe a high school team, but they are young. Whitehall has very few Seniors even playing. Yes, Sinatore is one of them, but they have done a very good job of developing quarterbacks over the past 20 years.
That offensive line is getting better each week. Three sophomores and two juniors. The biggest problem Whitehall has is depth. They have 548 boys in the school, while Parkland has 1259. While not all boys play football, the percentages favor the much bigger school. That is what it is, but nobody can deny its impact.
Whitehall can win or lose almost all of the games left. I'm anxious to see the team's development in the next 5 weeks.

 

[RoverNation05]

I love watching Gianni Sinatore play football. Everything he does is smooth, great arm strength, and kind of a throwback scrambler. And last night was the first time I watched Whitehall play (TV) and I thought you could really see the pieces. They're not there yet, but going to be a handful in the next couple years. For the recruiting people on this board, Desmond Boykin is a real guy to watch.

This should be the last year Whitehall has to compete in the postseason with Parkland and company if 6 classifications passes next week. From looking at the old enrollment breakdowns, Whitehall would possibly be the only EPC South public school that moves down (Nazareth is right on the fence). Whitehall should be able to dominate their classification with both East Stroudsburgs, Bangor, and Southern Lehigh. ACC and Becahi may elect play up to 5A, which would add real competitors, and there are so few D11 teams in that band of schools that it'll probably be a sub regional. But not sure how that will look, D2 only adds 3 more teams (none scary), so it's possible that D12 gets added like they did in wrestling, which obviously means Whitehall would have to go through Wood every year.

 

[EPC FAN]

I love watching Gianni Sinatore play football. Everything he does is smooth, great arm strength, and kind of a throwback scrambler. And last night was the first time I watched Whitehall play (TV) and I thought you could really see the pieces. They're not there yet, but going to be a handful in the next couple years. For the recruiting people on this board, Desmond Boykin is a real guy to watch.

This should be the last year Whitehall has to compete in the postseason with Parkland and company if 6 classifications passes next week. From looking at the old enrollment breakdowns, Whitehall would possibly be the only EPC South public school that moves down (Nazareth is right on the fence). Whitehall should be able to dominate their classification with both East Stroudsburgs, Bangor, and Southern Lehigh. ACC and Becahi may elect play up to 5A, which would add real competitors, and there are so few D11 teams in that band of schools that it'll probably be a sub regional. But not sure how that will look, D2 only adds 3 more teams (none scary), so it's possible that D12 gets added like they did in wrestling, which obviously means Whitehall would have to go through Wood every year.

Gianni has had a tough year so far He's probably trying to do to much. Interceptions probably cost the Zephyrs the CCHS game. Two picks in the end zone, one taken back over 90 yards, really turned that game. Could have been 14-0, instead it ended up being 7-7. He also had 3 picks in the first quarter vs Liberty. His fault, not his fault, they happened and put the team way behind the 8 ball. He played much better last night. Played like everyone thought he would play this season.
On a better note, you're right about Dez Boykin. First game, he caught a pass down the middle and looked like he was shot out of cannon. Blazing speed to the end zone. Nice sophomore player. He has a chance to be special.
My favorite thing to watch is the young offensive line. They're not there yet, but if they can stay healthy and get those valuable game reps, they're going to be pretty good.
The only thing I would have done if I were King of the PIAA, would have been to make all 3 and 4A Catholic schools play 6A. The area they can draw from makes them different. 1 and 2A would have to play at least 4A. Recruiting, enticing, any way you want to put it, they do have an advantage. Before anyone starts, if you believe those kids are paying the $8,000 plus tuition, you're delusional. It is all about having those kids in the school, which helps draw other tuition paying kids to the school. My older kid and my wife went to Catholic schools. They know the deal. It has been going on a long time. Wife graduated in the '70s. It went on then