Rough, tough Rovers ready for repeat

FROM KEITH GROLLER

The crowd oohed and aahed at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium Friday night every time the Nazareth-Whitehall score was announced.

And there were a lot of updates for always entertaining P.A. announcer Jake Llewellyn to give during the Easton-Liberty game.

Clearly, Nazareth plays the most interesting football of anyone in the area because they score a lot of points and give up nearly as much.

56-22, 39-36, 42-35 ... the Blue Eagles are the Oregon Ducks of Lehigh Valley Conference football and it's a fun team to watch.

Easton, meanwhile, isn't nearly as sexy to watch. They don't neccessarily score a lot, but they don't give up that many either. They play old-school football, the type built on rock-solid, hard-hitting defense. It's blue-collar, Bethlehem Steel, Mack Trucks stuff.

They rely on defense and a heady, gritty quarterback named Justin Pacchioli who will go down as one of the school's all-time best.

I've seen Easton twice in the last three weeks and this 14-7 win over Liberty tonight was a lot like the Rovers win over Emmaus two weeks ago.

It wasn't spectacular offense. But very good defense and opportunistic offense was good enough.

I like Justin Pacchioli. I like his poise, his leadership, his toughness. Kid's a winner.

Justin played Friday's game in pain. He lost a loved one in his family on Friday.

It was obviously someone Pacchioli cared a great deal about.

He had tears streaming down his face when the game was over.

Coach Steve Shiffert asked him if he wanted to talk to the press. Pacchioli said he'd be ok and he was.

As he had during the game, Pacchioli (below) did what he had to do in the interview and answered our questions while fighting back tears.



I don't know if Easton will repeat as district champs, but I wouldn't bet against the Rovers.

With Pacchioli and that hard-hitting defense they may have just enough talent to repeat, although, again, they'll have to play the district final -- if they get that far -- two days after the Thanksgiving Day game against a very strong, one-loss Phillipsburg team.

I still don't know how they did it last year, beating Parkland just two days after playing a game on Thanksgiving morning. By the end, they were hanging on for dear life because the fatigue was taking over.

But Easton is chock full of great kids who just bask in that great tradition. They love challenges and playing three games in eight days every November is one of them.

There's a lot of pride under those helmets and there's a lot of mystique about Cottingham Stadium and that's where several games in the District 11 4A tournament will unfold. It again figures to be a special place this November.

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/