Nazareth Area High School football team hangs on to beat Delaware Valley

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Nazareth Area High School football coach Rob Melosky knew early on Friday that it was going to be one of those nights.


But true to form, the big-play members of Melosky's team came through in the clutch, leading the top-seeded Blue Eagles to a 43-28 victory over Delaware Valley in the PIAA Districts 2-4-11 Class AAAA sub-regional quarterfinals at Andrew Leh Stadium.

"We had to reach back a little bit for this one," senior quarterback Dan Harding said. "(Delaware Valley) played inspired football but we were able to make the plays when we needed to."

Harding threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns to set up next week's showdown with No. 4 Parkland - the only team to defeat Nazareth this season.

"We're going to try to treat (next week) like any other game," Harding said. "But, obviously, it's bigger than that. It's a redemption game."

Parkland, (9-2), which defeated No. 5 Stroudsburg 38-10 in another quarterfinal matchup, defeated the Blue Eagles 47-20 on Oct. 21.

"If there was one team that we could have picked to play it would have been Parkland," wide receiver Adam Bridgeforth said. "That's the only blemish on our record, so we're looking forward to the rematch."

Bridgeforth went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season, catching eight passes for 142 yards and a touchdown. In the process, he broke the school record for receiving yards in a season.

Bridgeforth, who has 67 catches for 1,032, eclipsed the record of 1,005 yards set by 1995 graduate Justin Kondikoff.

"It feels good to get the record," Bridgeforth said. "But it feels even better to get the win tonight."

Nazareth (10-1), ranked No. 1 in The Express-Times region, turned the ball over on its first possession.

Harding was nearly picked off on the Blue Eagles' first play from scrimmage but receiver Alex Tonnies turned the near interception into a 14-yard catch.

On the next play, running back Jordan Gray, a freshman, fumbled on his first carry of the night but was able to recover for a gain of 9 yards.

And four plays later, Harding was intercepted by defensive back Jeremy Reynolds.

The Blue Eagles, who secured their first Lehigh Valley Conference championship last weekend, were shut out in the opening quarter for the first time since trailing 2-0 after one against Central Catholic on Oct. 1.

Fortunately, the defense was able to hold the Warriors to 28 yards of offense in the first half, and the offense built a 30-7 halftime lead.

"This was sort of a trap game for us," Nazareth coach Rob Melosky said. "Last week, we were holding up the (LVC) trophy and these kids have been reading the papers. Delaware Valley is a good team and they have a lot of great athletes. I'm proud the way our guys responded."

Delaware Valley (7-4) came back with a pair of touchdowns on its first two third-quarter possessions to cut the deficit to 30-20.

Then Harding, Gray and the rest of the usual suspects went to work.

Harding completed passes of 10, 10 and 20 yards to Andrew Bridgeforth, Adam Bridgeforth and Dan Shepherd, respectively, to move the ball inside the Warrior 20. Gray then finished the drive with runs of 17 and 3 yards -- the latter his second TD run of the game.

Gray, who finished with 117 yards on 23 carries, added his third touchdown -- a 37-yarder with 2:50 left -- to push the lead back to 15.

Shepherd (3 catches, 68 yards) and Alex Tonnies also caught TD passes.

"(Del Val) had the momentum swing their way and we had to do our best to stop that," said Andrew Bridgeforth, who intercepted quarterback Bryan Schor at the goal line with 1:55 left to seal the win. "Maybe we weren't used to playing with a lead. We came together when we had to and stopped them."

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/11/nazareth_area_high_school_foot_13.html