Easton Area High School football team still proud after loss to Nazareth

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

For the first time in three seasons, silver was draped around the necks of Easton Area High School football players on the final Saturday in November.

The Red Rovers had a district three-peat in mind but ran into Nazareth's electric offense and gritty defense, losing 28-21 in the District 11 Class AAAA final on Saturday night at Andrew Leh Stadium in Nazareth.


"It feels great to be here and it sucks we lost, but we accomplished everything we wanted to," senior linebacker Jeremy Swick said. "No one expected us to be here. Even though we didn't win, we can keep our heads up high."


For the third consecutive season, Easton (11-3) was playing its third game in an eight-day span after winning in the district semifinals on Nov. 18 and playing rival Phillipsburg on Thanksgiving.

The Red Rovers, who won the past two district crowns, got off to a bang early Saturday night as senior quarterback Ian Hayden connected with freshman wideout Shane Simpson for a 50-yard catch-and-run down the left sideline down to the Blue Eagles' 3-yard line.

On the next play, junior Austin Brown took a pitch to the right side for a 3-yard touchdown and 7-0 lead with a mere 26 seconds gone in the first quarter.


"We knew they were going to come out firing; Easton always does," Nazareth senior quarterback Dan Harding said. "We had to settle down and get things going. We just weathered the storm early and finished them off."


After taking a 14-0 lead on its next possession on Brown's 1-yard TD run, the Easton offense sputtered out, going three-and-out on five consecutive possessions as Nazareth (12-1), which plays La Salle College High School in the PIAA quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium, took a 28-14 lead on Jordan Gray's 1-yard touchdown run with 7:01 left in the third quarter.


"We knew we had to get something early or they were going to wear us down, which is what they did," Easton coach Steve Shiffert said. "We couldn't get a stop. They caught the ball well downfield and we dropped them; we just didn't make the plays."

Easton made it a game in the fourth quarter on Brown's 2-yard touchdown run with 4:57 left, but ran out of time.

This was the Rovers' sixth time playing three games in eight days. The team is now 3-3 in games on Saturdays following the Thanksgiving Day contest against the Stateliners.


"It's how we do it -- three in eight ... that's us," Swick said. "Win or lose, we do it. No one thought we could do it. We're happy where we got."


Easton showed its youth and inexperience early in the season after graduating some 30 seniors and returning just four starters on both sides of the ball.

The Rovers got off to a 2-2 start and aspirations of a Lehigh Valley Conference title, a district berth, their patented three games in eight days and a PIAA berth were fading away.

Then came a 34-33 overtime win at unbeaten Whitehall in Week 5 and the ball kept rolling and picking up momentum from there.

The Rovers' 24-8 win over P'burg was their ninth straight victory, and a three-peat and state postseason berth was becoming more of a reality, at least until Saturday night.


"We prepare this team every season just for this week," Shiffert said. "We don't push the kids real hard in the summer because we know we want to do this at the end of the season. It's gotta be rewarding, but we play three in eight to win three in eight. We told the kids we're proud of their effort, but we won't accept defeat. We have to work harder so we win that third game."

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