Mason Kholi remembers when Tanner Dogmanits got on the field as a Whitehall freshman in 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cTanner was out there wearing No. 81 and it was a little funny seeing a quarterback wear No. 81, but that\u2019s what we had for him,\u201d said Kholi, the Zephyrs\u2019 offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. \u201cHe has come a really long way since then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dogmanits now wears no. 7 and he\u2019s No. 1 all-time on Whitehall\u2019s passing yardage chart.<\/p>\n
He had one of the best games of his career at Emmaus last week, passing for 174 yards and rushing for another 174. Whitehall rallied from deficits of 7-0, 14-7, 21-14 and 27-21 to post a 28-27 win when Dogmanits hit Henry Shultz for a 6-yard TD pass with 11 seconds left and Nicholas Miley added the extra point.<\/p>\n
During the course of the game, Dogmanits passed his brother, Trey, who is now a junior quarterback at Wilkes, as Whitehall\u2019s all-time leader in passing yards. Tanner has 5,188 and his brother had 5,155.<\/p>\n
Dogmanits isn\u2019t worried about personal records. He\u2019s only interested in the team\u2019s record, which stands at 6-1 entering Thursday night\u2019s home game against Allen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not really what I am focused on right now,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just focused on doing my best for the team and leading out on the field. I talked about it with [Kholi] before the season. But during the season, it\u2019s not something I am focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dogmanits was able to break his brother\u2019s record thanks in large part to another brother, Talon. He had 57 catches for 1,101 yards and 14 touchdowns last year and made 52 grabs for 848 yards and six scores in 2024 as Whitehall reached back-to-back District 11 5A finals and won last year\u2019s crown.<\/p>\n
While he doesn\u2019t have his brother as a top target anymore \u2014 Talon is at Bloomsburg \u2014 he has a longtime friend on the other end of his passes.<\/p>\n
Henry Shutlz and Dogmanits have known each other since they were little kids. Shultz, a junior, has become the league\u2019s top receiver in terms of catches with 42 for 719 yards and eight TDs.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing my brother\u2019s slot needed to be filled this year, I knew I had to come in during the summer and do our workouts and then staying extra extra with the receivers,\u201d Dogmanits said. \u201cI think getting that extra work in has paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shultz said he has playing different sports with Dogmanits since they were in elementary school.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started with basketball and then moved to football, and we\u2019ve always known each other and played on the same teams and built chemistry together,\u201d Shultz said. \u201cI feel like when it comes down to those big moments, we have a lot of trust in each other and can make those big plays.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dogmanits has a lot of respect for Shultz.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really tracks the ball well,\u201d he said. \u201cKnowing when we need a big play, I can only trust Henry to come down with the ball. The way he knows football is big. There\u2019s a lot of trust there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shultz said Dogmanits has been making big plays for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got eyes all over the field,\u201d he said. \u201cHe knows how to read the defenses and puts the ball perfectly in my hands. And when I am not open, he can scramble and find other receivers. He finds a way to get first downs and get extra yards.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the game-tying TD pass at Emmaus, Shultz said, \u201cI just ran a corner route. I looked up and it was right there. I got it and got my foot in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dogmanits said in the huddle before the play, if they saw man-to-man coverage there was going to be an option or go to Henry in the corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe swing to the running back [Jeziah Gregory] was the first option, but I checked out of that and went to Henry.\u201d Dogmanits said.<\/p>\n
The two will likely connect over the last three games of the regular season, and then it\u2019s on to the District 11 6A playoffs.<\/p>\n
Kholi is thrilled for their success.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of these guys have been working, going back to last winter in the weight room and then installing stuff in the springtime,\u201d Kholi said. \u201cThey\u2019ve done thousands of reps and they have built chemistry through all of their work together. We have some guys that play wide receiver and quarterback and they\u2019re just athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they have a special connection similar to what Tanner had with his brother. It\u2019s hard to replicate that sometimes because they had that brotherly telepathy, but they would stay after practice throughout the course of the year and get that timing down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kholi said they are hard-working, coachable kids who know how to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when they play other sports, they\u2019re great competitors and they\u2019re always locked in,\u201d Kholi said. \u201cThey focus on what they\u2019re doing and they\u2019re trying to improve each day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kholi played quarterback at Allentown Central Catholic before graduating in 2015. He played college football at Muhlenberg and then was a college assistant with one year at Juniata and two with current Whitehall athletic director Jeff Pukszyn at Moravian.<\/p>\n
He knows all about the Whitehall sports tradition and the stories lineage of certain families, like the Dogmanits gang.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Buskirks, the Bonshaks, the Rexes; this school has always had those families that have history here and we\u2019re celebrating 100 years of football this year and that\u2019s what this program has always been about,\u201d Kholi said. \u201cHenry\u2019s dad [Matt] played here and we all know about the Dogmanits family. They know the tradition and they know it\u2019s about being gritty, tough competitors. It doesn\u2019t matter who they\u2019re going up against. They\u2019re going to fight and battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kholi is aware of what\u2019s going on around the Lehigh Valley where Nazareth has Cooper Madson, Bethlehem Catholic is led by Axel Burkart, Parkland features Finn Coen and there are quality QBs at a bunch of schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s awesome to see and it\u2019s only human nature for guys to look around and see other quarterbacks have big games and it inspires them try to one-up it,\u201d Kholi said. \u201cTalking with Tanner, he doesn\u2019t think about records. For him, he\u2019s worried about us as a team. He just wants a good end to his season and career.\u201d<\/p>\n
A look at Thursday night\u2019s EPC games, both 7 p.m. starts:<\/p>\n
Allen (3-4, 1-3 EPC) at Whitehall (6-1, 4-0)<\/p>\n
The storylines: The Canaries have lost three in a row during an injury-plagued stretch but have had some good moments in games against Parkland and Allentown CCHS. The Zephyrs have won five in a row since a Labor Day weekend loss to Nazareth. They have shown they can win the close ones, beating Wilkes-Barre Area by two, Pleasant Valley by three and Emmaus by one. They are in contention for the EPC Lehigh County title and have huge matchups against Parkland and Allentown CCHS looming.<\/p>\n
Players to watch: The Canaries had 215 yards on offense, including 153 in the air, against the Vikings. Curtis Cooper ran for the team\u2019s lone touchdown. Jaylen Walker had seven catches for 77 yards and Michael Taylor had 54 yards rushing. The Zephyrs have an MVP candidate in Tanner Dogmanits, who has passed for 1,333 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 493 yards and five more scores. Henry Shultz leads the EPC in receptions with 42 for 710 and eight grabs. Jeziah Gregory has rushed for 736 yards and 12 scores.<\/p>\n
Keith Groller\u2019s pick: Whitehall 48-18<\/p>\n
Emmaus (2-5, 1-3 EPC) at Dieruff (1-6, 0-4)<\/p>\n
The storylines: The Green Hornets are coming off a pair of frustrating losses to Allentown CCHS and Whitehall, setbacks by a combined four points that came in the final minutes. At the moment, they are out of the District 11 6A playoff picture \u2014 ranked 11th out 12 teams in 6A. They will need to win out to have a shot at getting one of the eight berths. Dieruff continues to struggle with injuries and inconsistency during a four-game losing streak in which the Huskies have been outscored 202-8.<\/p>\n
Players to watch: The Emmaus running game has been boosted by the return of Jay Santos from injury. He ran for 166 yards on 17 carries against Whitehall and has 266 yards on 33 carries in three games. Mason Lenig leads the Green Hornets defense with 67 tackles, including 10 tackles for loss and three sacks. Dieruff has struggled offensively, but Sincere Brown has rushed for 114 yards on 29 carries and Kayson Barlow has 10 receptions for 154 yards.<\/p>\n
Keith Groller\u2019s pick: Emmaus 42-0<\/p>\n
Note: Keith Groller\u2019s high school picks were 6-4 last week and 61-22 on the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mason Kholi remembers when Tanner Dogmanits got on the field as a Whitehall freshman in 2023. \u201cTanner was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,304,305,726,432],"class_list":["post-306880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-sports","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}