Parkland High School football team beats Easton 24-0 behind Rob Dvoracek's running

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

The inclement weather brought sheets and sheets of rain throughout the Lehigh Valley on Friday night.

The Parkland High School football team countered with a steady stream of senior running back Rob Dvoracek.

Dvoracek ran for 114 yards and three touchdowns as the Trojans beat Easton 24-0 in a battle of one-loss Lehigh Valley Conference teams at Cottingham Stadium.

"He just ran the ball well and there wasn't really anything we could do," Red Rovers junior tight end/defensive end Matt Mowad said. "He overpowered us in every aspect of the game."

After a scoreless first quarter, Easton (2-2 overall, 1-2 conference) began a drive at Parkland's 39. On third-and-2 from the 18, senior running back James Middleton fumbled and it was pounced on by the Trojans.

Parkland (3-1, 2-1) marched 82 yards in nine plays in a drive that consumed more than five minutes. Dvoracek took a direct snap out of the Wildcat formation and went 19 yards around the right side, diving into the end zone for a touchdown with 20.7 seconds left until halftime.

The Temple-bound Dvoracek ran the ball on six of those plays.

"I think they saw the physical advantage and went after us," Easton coach Steve Shiffert said. "In that type of weather if we could have done it, we would have done the same thing."

The Trojans capitalized on another Easton mistake early in the third quarter. After Elijah Redmond broke through to block Chris Roubik's punt, Dvoracek needed just two plays to score from 11 yards out, extending the lead to 14-0 with 8:10 left in the third.

Tanner Stengel blocked another Easton punt attempt on the Rovers' ensuing possession, setting up the Trojans at Easton's 35. After four straight carries by Dvoracek, Brennon Bissell kicked a 31-yard field goal.

"Physically, they outmanned us there," Shiffert said. "We should have been doing some things (on offense), too. We couldn't put 3-4-5 plays together. In the first half we got good field position but didn't get any points out of it.

"We missed a field goal, fumbled down in their territory; those are things you can't do against a good football team. You can't give them extra opportunities."

Things didn't get easier for Easton as the game wore on. Late in the fourth quarter, senior quarterback Ian Hayden's lateral to the right side was dropped and Parkland's Arthur Weaver landed on it at the Rovers' 10.

Dvoracek, sitting on 99 yards, produced carries of 6, 4 and 5 yards to eclipse the century mark and put the game away. His 5-yard TD with 2:01 left capped the first shutout of Easton at home since Parkland blanked the Rovers 26-0 in 2008.

Easton enjoyed great field position in the first quarter on its second possession when Parkland's punter mishandled a snap and was snowed under at his 20. But the Rovers lost two yards in three plays and Roubik was wide right on a 39-yard field goal try.

The Red Rovers' other conference loss was a 35-28 shootout at Nazareth as the Blue Eagles scored three touchdowns in the game's final 11 minutes.

"It's a lot worse; we got shut out at home," Mowad said. "There are no words to describe it."

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