Easton ends regular season on a high note

FROM MIKE BLOUSE

Steve Shiffert has enjoyed a lot of big wins and a lot of winning seasons in his 19 years as head coach of the Easton High football program. Conference championships. District 11 titles. Thanksgiving Day triumphs over Phillipsburg.

This season, which continues Friday night with a 12th district playoff appearance in the last 13 years, has been particularly satisfying for Shiffert.

He said so after his Red Rovers scored an easy 55-6 victory over Bethlehem Catholic in Saturday night's Lehigh Valley Conference finale at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.


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"This was a pretty raw group of young, inexperienced kids who overcame a difficult start to the season and have developed into a good team," said Shiffert, who improved his coaching record to 164-71-1. "There's no doubt about it, I'm very pleased with their progress."

After the slow 2-2 start, Shiffert's Red Rovers enter the Districts 2-4-11 Class 4A subregional tournament with an 8-2 overall record and a 7-2 mark in the conference. The No. 3 seed, they meet sixth-seeded LVC rival Freedom on Friday night at Cottingham Stadium. Easton knocked off Freedom 21-14 in overtime on Oct. 21 at BASD Stadium.

(All seeds and pairings are unofficial until today's District 11 meeting.)

Against Bethlehem Catholic, which started off 3-1 and ended its season with six straight defeats under first-year coach Joe Henrich, the red-hot Rovers controlled the action throughout.

The Golden Hawks went three-and-out on their first offensive series, and Easton's Shane Simpson sped 56 yards with a punt return for six points just 98 seconds into the contest. Simpson is a freshman who wears former Red Rover star Jarred Holley's number 18.

"I think that punt return set the tone," said senior Kevin Griffin, who enjoyed a fine all-around game with 27 rushing and 71 receiving yards. "The game plan was to put them away early and get everyone in the game. We wanted home-field advantage for the playoffs."

"That's the second time Shane's started a game with an early punt return," Shiffert said. "It gets everyone excited."

Easton poured it on during the first 24 minutes. Five Red Rovers reached the end zone before intermission — Simpson, Austin Brown on a 1-yard run, Zach Herres on a 13-yard pass from Ian Hayden, Ryan Williams on an 8-yard run and Matthew Mowad on a 39-yard fumble return.

The entire second half was played under the mercy rule.

Bethlehem Catholic scored its only points of the night early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Connor Casey passed 34 yards to wideout Evan Blair. Overall, Casey passed for 75 yards and ran for 36.

Williams' third touchdown of the night, a 57-yard sprint, came on the game's final play and put Easton over the 50-point mark.

Hayden completed 7 of 8 passes for 102 yards to highlight the offense while Shabarreon Banks contributed two interceptions on defense.

"Our first-team kids played very well," Shiffert said. "They were focused and made minimal mistakes. It was important for us to keep that momentum going."

Easton's focus now turns to capturing a third consecutive subregional crown.

That this version of Red Rovers is even in the district playoffs, especially after the .500 start, is quite an accomplishment. Easton graduated 17 senior starters from last year's team and also lost the school's career passing leader in two-way standout Justin Pacchioli. The 2011 campaign was in serious jeopardy after setbacks to Nazareth, 35-28 in Week 2, and Parkland, 24-0 in Week 4.

But steady in-season progress has been a hallmark of Red Rover teams during Shiffert's tenure.

"At 2-2, there were some doubts," the veteran coach admitted. "But I give a lot of credit to our seniors. They made sure we got back on track."

Shiffert and his players, certainly, are ready for the next challenge.

"That's tough," Shiffert said of drawing a Freedom team that qualified for the district subregional with a wild 45-42 win over Liberty on Saturday. "I'm sure they've got an ax to grind with us. But this is the playoffs and they're all good teams."

"We want to three-peat," Griffin said. "It's our goal. … It's been our goal since the beginning of the season."

Mike Blouse is a freelance writer.

http://www.mcall.com/sports/mc-becahi-easton-football1105-20111105,0,800145.story