The gnashing of teeth began long before the clock hit zero Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.
Since 2016, and except for 2020 when District 11 opted out of the state football playoffs over pandemic-related concerns, the District 11 football champion in Class 6A has had an unpleasant ending to what had been a glorious season.
Unfortunately for District 11, the state brackets continually match up the Lehigh Valley-area champion against the District 12, or Philadelphia champ, in the state quarterfinals. For eight years St. Joe’s Prep brought an end to a memorable season, and most of the games weren’t close. Whether it was Parkland, Nazareth or Freedom taking on Prep, the result was pretty much the same. Seven of the games were decided by an average of 30 points. Only Freedom, in 2021, came close with a 24-21 loss that came down to the final possession.
La Salle College High School supplanted St. Joe’s this year as the District 12 champ, and Easton had its first shot in the state playoffs since 2010, but the result was the same as so many of the Prep games against Parkland, Nazareth and Freedom.
A team stocked with several Division I commits was too much for the scrappy Red Rovers to handle. A scoreless tie after one quarter quickly turned into a 28-0 halftime lead for the Explorers. They scored on their first possession of the second half to put the mercy rule in motion, and the only thing in doubt was whether or not La Salle would hit 50 points. They fell just shy in a 49-7 win and will now take on District 1 champ North Penn in the state semis at 1 p.m. Saturday at Central Bucks South.
Unlike Parkland, Freedom and Nazareth, the loss to a PCL power doesn’t mean the end of the season. That’s because Easton has a Thanksgiving morning game against Phillipsburg at Lafayette’s Fisher Stadium that many consider to be more important than a state playoff game.
That’s why Easton coach Matt Senneca, who encountered his first loss after 13 wins, didn’t waste time getting his starters off the field as the outcome became evident in the second half.
“Those guys are never going to want to come out of a game, especially the seniors and the guys who have been around us for three years and put the work in,” Senneca said. “But I think they understood why we did it. We’re going to get back to work and see where it gets us. The mindset is the same. Like I just told the kids, we’re going to treat this like we treated the last 13 weeks. We’re going to put our head down and go to work and not worry about what happened the week before and go after our next opponent, and that happens to be the team across the river this week.”
The Thanksgiving game is a nice consolation prize, and that’s where the focus on the players and coaches will go.
Very few people get to play in front of the type of crowds that annually flock to College Hill on Thanksgiving morning. Even a replay game in 2009 of the 1993 Easton-P’burg game that ended in a tie packed Fisher Stadium, and impressed the likes of Eli and Peyton Manning, who were there to help coach the teams.
It’s a unique situation and something the Easton and Phillipsburg fans should, and do, treasure.
It has been a special Easton season, and Senneca doesn’t want the good vibes to end.
“Just want to take a minute to thank the community, our band, Rover Nation, the cheerleaders, and the administration for all the support this year!” he posted on social media Saturday. “One more big one left! We ain’t done yet! See you on Turkey Day on the Hill!”
Easton is officially sold out of reserved seats for the game, and only standing room was available as of Saturday.
Where else does that happen?
The players, especially the seniors, get it. And that’s why they stayed positive while others were outspoken in talking about what many feel is the unfair situation of having schools with boundaries play teams without boundaries in the playoffs, especially those like PCL members who can draw from other states.
The issue is always there, but is brought to the forefront in a fever pitch when results like Friday’s game happen.
Many are backing Pennsylvania House Bill 41, brought forth by Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, which is intended to reform the PIAA playoff system.
“The current system isn’t just putting public school athletes at a disadvantage; it’s endangering their health and safety,” Conklin said this year. “It’s forcing students from public schools, which must recruit from within school district boundaries, to compete against students from private schools, which can recruit from anywhere and amass teams that are larger and stronger.”
Where the bill goes is a long way from being decided. But Easton knows it’s going to College Hill for a special game Thursday morning, and while the Red Rovers program can’t be happy about what happened Friday night, they should savor what’s left.
“I’m really proud of what our team accomplished this year,” senior captain Kurtis Crossman said on social media. “We overcame many obstacles to get to this point. Each team member gave 100% of themselves. With the guidance of our great coaches, we have turned this program around in three years. It has been an honor to be a captain of this team. Though we suffered a loss in the state quarterfinals, we will continue to hold our heads high. I appreciate the fact that we had the opportunity to go against some of the best in the state, and I have no regrets. As Rovers, we must always accept a challenge. These challenges make us stronger athletes. One more game to go!”