K-Kids score late, beat Freedom

FROM THE MORNING CALL

The name of the play that gave Northampton a 21-14 win over Freedom in a Lehigh Valley Conference football game Friday night at Erdosy Stadium will have to remain a mystery.

Pat Cook, the one on the throwing end of the Konrete Kids' biggest play of the season so far, isn't telling.

"It works often in practice," Cook said, "but I can't tell you [the name]."

The anonymous pass was a 16-yard completion to Colin Wescoe with 33.4 seconds left to give Northampton (3-3, 2-3) a win in a game that slowly picked up momentum and ended in a wild finish over the final three minutes.



Freedom (3-3, 2-3) had the ball on its own 30 with less than three minutes left when quarterback Lukas Giovarelli escaped two defenders on a pass rush and completed a 55-yard catch-and-run to Eddie Elliott, who took the ball to the Northampton 15.

After two plays went nowhere, Giovarelli threw a pass that was batted, then tipped into the hands of K-Kids linebacker Nick Sharga, who returned the ball to the Northampton 48.

Cook completed a pass to Tony DiClemente, who took the ball to the Freedom 16 with 38.7 seconds left. On the next play, Cook and Wescoe connected on the winning score.

But the Patriots were not done yet. Angel Rosado returned the kickoff to the Freedom 36. After an incompletion, Giovarelli's final pass fell into the arms of Northampton's Nick Wilson to seal the final outcome.

"The coach made all the right calls, I guess," Cook said. "He put us in a position to win. I had all the confidence in the world in my team on the last drive. I knew we were going to put it in for the score."

Wescoe had only two receptions, but obviously had the one that mattered.

"I've never underestimated my team, no matter what," Wescoe said. "I think that when the time is right, we're going to come out and do something big."

After starting the season slow, Northampton is back to .500, but according to coach Bob Steckel, he erased his team's record after four games.

"We're 2-0," he said. "We put the first four games behind us. We don't know anything about 3-3."

The K-Kids were able to sustain long drives, which was great for controlling the clock and tempo during the first 47 minutes, but when they had to move quickly, it was a small cause for concern.

Northampton had a 58-36 advantage in plays called and four drives of 10 plays or more, so moving 52 yards in less than a minute was not guaranteed.

"I was concerned," Steckel said. "On that last drive, we were going to take a shot down town. If it was completed, we were going to go for the touchdown. If was incomplete, we were going to run the clock out."

And after the DiClemente completion to the 16 ...

"At that point, we told Pat, 'Either it's a sure touchdown, or throw it through the back of the end zone.' " Steckel said. "Then we were going to run a trap and set up the field goal."

While Northampton had the slow-and-steady offense, Freedom scored quickly on its two scores. The Patriots went 68 yards on three plays — the third being a 26-yard TD pass from Giovarelli to Rosado — to take a lead of 7-0 in the first quarter.

Northampton scored twice in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead. Chad Fenon, who rushed for 71 yards, scored from 4 yards out and Cook and DiClemente hooked up on a 27-yard completion.

Freedom had the ball on the Northampton 3 with 14.7 seconds left in the first half, but failed to score. After three incompletions led to fourth down, the K-Kids stuffed Okezie Alozie for a 2-yard loss on the final play of the first half.

"Some people think it's all about schemes and Xs and Os, but it's not," Steckel said. "It's about what kid is going to step up and make a play. Our kids made plays tonight. Their kids made plays. It just timed out better for us. It had nothing to do with coaching. It's heart and desire."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-kidspatriots10-08-20101008,0,1009433.story