Easton coach Matt Senneca said simply, “I’m an offensive guy. I want to score a touchdown. I wanted to end it with a touchdown if we can. “
That’s why he decided to eschew a field goal try that would have been the distance of an extra point kick with 6 seconds left and the Red Rovers tied with Bethlehem Catholic at Bethlehem Area School Stadium.
Instead of the field goal, Senneca left his offense on the field and Zahviay McGurn found tight end Justin Cosover in the right flat and a mere inch or less inbounds for the game-winning 3-yard touchdown on the final play that gave Easton a stunning 20-14 win in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference opener for both teams.
The result allowed Easton to bounce back from a lopsided loss to Parkland to get them to 2-2, while the Golden Hawks lost for the first time after three wins.
Bethlehem Catholic’s Axel Burkart gets ready to take the field against Easton on Sept. 19, 2024, at BASD Stadium in Bethlehem. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
The Becahi loss also meant that even before the regular season gets to its midway point after this weekend’s games, no EPC is left unbeaten. Pocono Mountain East entered Week 4 unscathed along with the Golden Hawks, but the Cardinals lost at Emmaus on Friday night.
None of that was a concern for defending EPC Northampton County and District 11 6A Easton, which took a 14-0 lead over Becahi midway through the second quarter, but didn’t score again until the final play.
The Red Rovers took over possession at their own 20 with 1:43 left and moved swiftly down the field behind the passing of McGurn, a junior in his first season as the varsity starter. He completed four passes on the game-deciding drive.
He found Amin Fideen for 28 yards to convert a third-and-5 to the 47 and then hit Sean McPeek for 26 yards to the Becahi seven. Another strike to Jeffrey Thomas got it to the 3 and a Thomas carry went nowhere and Easton scrambled to spike the ball just in time to get off one more play.
Many in the crowd thought Easton would send out kicker Greyson Baker who was successful on two previous PAT kicks.
Instead, the Red Rovers ran a play that proved to be successful when a defender fell down, leaving Cosover all over in the right flat.
It was a matter of catching the ball and getting a foot down inbounds for Cosover, a senior who is one of the few experienced players on the Easton roster.
“I saw the ball go up and I was just trying to make sure my feet were in,” Cosover said. “I was a little scared catching it. I saw the defender fall on the ground and I knew there would be no one else because they were playing man-to-man defense.”
“I just knew I had to get him the ball,” McGurn said. “We just had to get it done and we executed it perfectly.”
Easton’s Zahviay McGurn looks for a play against Bethlehem Catholic on Sept. 19, 2024, at BASD Stadium in Bethlehem. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
Senneca said the play didn’t go as designed, but trusted Cosover to make the catch.
“I wanted to hit McPeek on a slant, but they were giving us the flat all night and that’s what popped open,” Senneca said. “Cosover and McPeek are our two captains. The leadership they have given us and the trust I have in both of them in critical situations like that are huge.”
Senneca said the kids wanted him to go for a touchdown.
“If it didn’t work out, I was hoping we’d have a second left and could still kick the field goal,” he said. “It’s a risk I took, but I trusted our kids tonight.”
Senneca said he was disappointed in his team’s offensive performance in the second half until the final drive.
“We struggled to move the ball like we did in the first half, but you have to give our kids a lot of credit,” the Easton coach said. “A lot of them have never been in a situation before like that at the end of a game. They went down and put the ball in the end zone and it’s a credit to those kids. They did a great job.”
Not forgotten either was the play of the Easton defense after Becahi rallied to tie it at 14 with a pair of Justin Martinez touchdowns runs — a 3-yard run with 4:20 left in the first half and a 1-yarter that ended a 12-play, 70-yard drive to start the second half.
The Golden Hawks had the ball at the Easton 33 as the first half was ending but the Red Rovers got an interception from Akir Brown.
Bethlehem Catholic’s Axel Burkart passes the ball against Easton on Sept. 19, 2024, at BASD Stadium in Bethlehem. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
On the final play of the third quarter, Becahi quarterback Axel Burkart got through a hole at the line of scrimmage and ran from his own 1-yard line for 83 yards to the Easton 16. It looked like Burkart was going to score but Jeffry Thomas caught him from behind.
Thomas’ tackle saved a touchdown and might have saved the game.
“His effort all night was special,” Senneca said. “That effort on that play probably saved the game for us and he ran the ball well on offense. He has done a great job the past couple of weeks for us.”
Senneca thought getting a hard-fought win in a game that could have easily gone the other way was important for a team that graduated 19 starters from last year’s record-breaking 14-1 squad.
“This is a huge confidence-builder to be able to go down in a two-minute situation and get a win,” Senneca said. “People ask me all the time why we go no-huddle and that’s why. It’s what we do and it’s not a different situation for the kids. It’s not a hurry-up situation. We just go about our offense and doing what we do. It’s a credit to the kids for executing like they did.”
Meanwhile, Becahi coach Joe Bernard was disappointed his team wasn’t able to execute better in key situations on offense. The Golden Hawks got 176 yards passing from University of New Hampshire commit Burkart and another 121 from him on the ground, but stalled out several times in Easton territory, including the possession just before the Rovers’ game-winning drive.
Becahi was hurt by several dropped passes and numerous penalties, especially on offense and many pre-snap infractions.
“We didn’t practice well all week,” Bernard said. “We had a lack of focus all week, and I was concerned about it. It’s ironic that: the same kids who had a lack of focus during the week, also had a lack of focus tonight. We had a lot of busts. It’s a lesson learned. It’s a hard way to learn. But hey, they deserved to win, and we deserved to lose.”
Becahi was without Carter Vassa due to injury. He entered the weekend leading the EPC in receptions with 24 for 307 yards. His absence was greatly felt.
Bethlehem Catholic’s Ronnie Brodie catches the ball against Easton on Sept. 19, 2024, at BASD Stadium in Bethlehem. (Jonathan Broady/Special to The Morning Call)
“I’m not sure about his timeline,” Bernard said. “But he’s going to be back in the next week or two and be ready to go. I feel pretty good about that.”
Becahi will host Allen at 1 p.m. Saturday in a battle of 3-1 teams. Easton entertains Allentown Central Catholic as Lehigh County teams play Northampton County teams in the Week 5 slate.
Easton 20, Becahi 14
Scoring summary
Easton 7 – 7 – 0 – 6 — 20
Becahi 0 – 7 – 7 – 0 — 14
FIRST QUARTER
E: Jeffrey Thomas 2 run (Greyson Baker kick), 1:54
SECOND QUARTER
E: Colby Oraschin 4 run (Baker kick), 7:40
B: Justin Martinez 3 run (Evan Schultz kick), 4:20
THIRD QUARTER
B: Martinez 1 run (Schultz kick), 6:14
FOURTH QUARTER
E: Justin Cosover 3 pass from Zahviay McGurn (no PAT attempted), 0:00
Individual stats
RUSHING
Easton: Zahviay McGurn 12-74; Jeffrey Thomas 23-89, TD; Colby Oraschin 1-4, TD.
Becahi: Justin Martinez 13-52, 2 TD; Axel Burkart 8-121; Antonio Salamoni 3-14; Tyre Lewis 1-1.
PASSING
Easton: McGurn 11-24-0, 141 yards, TD.
Becahi: Burkart 11-30-1, 176 yards.
RECEIVING
Easton: Sean McPeek 4-61; Cosover 4-29; Amin Fideen 1-28; Thomas 1-13; Zack Martenis 1-10.
Becahi: Lewis 4-71; Ronnie Brodie 3-71; Aiden Rivera 1-15; Salamoni 1-7; Martinez 1-6; Armando Thom 1-6.