Elder sparks Parkland comeback

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Seven of his Parkland teammates had rushing attempts before Jarel Elder had the chance to touch the ball late in the second quarter Friday night in a Lehigh Valley Conference football game against Northampton.

Elder quickly made up for lost time. He scored on a 50-yard run on his first carry to give the Trojans their first score of the game and added two more rushing TDs to help lift Parkland to a 28-20 win over the Konkrete Kids on Senior Night.

Elder led the Trojans (4-5, 4-4) with 69 yards rushing and was one of the sparks that helped erase a 20-0 deficit. The outcome helps keep Parkland in the hunt for a postseason berth, while damaging the chances of Northampton (4-5, 3-5).

Parkland ends the regular season next week against Whitehall, while Northampton plays Nazareth.


"We started slow in the beginning, but we picked it up big-time," Elder said. "Being down 20 motivated us."

The story of the game might have been the performance of the Parkland offensive line. After Northampton's John Lambert returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown with 3:02 left in the second quarter, the K-Kids led 20-0.

If there was a line of demarcation, that was it. Two plays after that, Lambert's second touchdown, Parkland ran well behind its offensive line of left tackle Eric Burleson, left guard Jarrod Bulger, center Koty Krempasky, right guard Puneet Kumar and right tackle Doug Turrell.

Elder's TD was one of four straight possessions on which the Trojans scored.

"We made some adjustments at halftime," Turrell said. "We came out and won the game. We fought hard up front and pulled together in the second half."

Parkland had the ball at the beginning of the fourth quarter and covered 75 yards over eight plays, the last being a 34-yard touchdown from Tim Baranek to Sean Roth.

After forcing the K-Kids to punt after four plays, the Trojans covered 65 yards, the last 6 coming on an Elder rush around left end. That gave Parkland a 21-20 lead near the end of the third quarter.

The Trojans scored their final TD on their first possesion of the fourth when Elder ran it in from 5 yards out.

Elder understands his place in Parkland's Wing-T. A lot of runners get the chance, and whoever has the hot hand usually gets more carries.

"With fresh legs, we can keep it going the whole game," he said. "There are other backs ahead of me."

Northampton dominated the first quarter and a half. On the first play from scrimmage, Lambert took a handoff on a trap and went 70 yards for a touchdown. On their next possession, the K-Kids went 71 yards on six plays, capped by Chad Fenon's 4-yard run around right end.

Northampton coach Bob Steckel said he did not know exactly where things went wrong for his team.

"If I knew," he said, "we wouldn't have done it. There's nothing I can tell you that you didn't see. They took over the second half. There's nothing more I can say."

Parkland has had issues with turnovers. The Trojans had 18 over a three-game stretch and six last week at Nazareth, but committed only two Friday.

"The coaches hounded us all week at practice to not put the ball on the ground and not turn the ball over," Turrell said.

"Our mentality going into this game was no turnovers," Elder said. "We had to keep turnovers to a minimum."

Northampton had two late chances to tie the game. The K-Kids drove to the Parkland 7 with 3:50 left, but Trojans safety Cody Callahan had a key end zone breakup of a pass to stall the drive.

Northampton got the ball back again at the Parkland 45 with 2:43 to go, but the Trojans forced four straight incompletions to end the game.

Parkland coach Jim Morgans did not have time to figure out playoff possibilities, especially with Whitehall coming up next.

"There's a possibility," he said. "I'm not thinking about that. All I'm thinking about is Whitehall."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-parkland-kids-1029-20101029,0,7495150.story