Three takeways from my night at J. Birney Crum

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER Some quick thoughts before boarding a plane for Lynchburg, Va., and tonight's Lehigh-Liberty University game. 1. Easton has some tough decisions to make. I was impressed with the Red Rovers in their 35-10 win over Central Catholic, but for them to be truly successful, they need those six kids back who are suspended. I don't know what school policy is, but I think missing one game against Central Catholic is not enough of a punishment for their actions. The message has got to be more harsh than that. I am not buying the "kids will be kids" routine. That's a copout. There has been enough incidents around here, more than enough, to let everybody know what's right and what's wrong. When you're an athlete, especially a football player representing one of the finest programs in the state of Pennsylvania, you are held to higher standard. Sorry, you just are. Steve Shiffert said some decisions would be made this morning. I don't know if Steve has the power to do whatever he wants to do, but I think the message has got to be firm that this stuff won't be tolerated. I think having to miss at least one more game, a home game against Emmaus, would send a stronger message that this kind of behavior won't be tolerated. 2. Central Catholic's Colin McDermott is a class act. Because so much of the focus in my story had to be about Easton's situation, I wasn't able to give proper due to Colin McDermott and him becoming the leading rusher in CCHS history. McDermott's ability has been obscured somewhat by the staggering numbers Brendan Nosovitch, Kevin Gulyas and others have put on the board the last few years. But he is a solid, tough kid. And he showed a lot of class by making sure to thank his offensive line and his grandfather, Arthur Pappas, when I caught up to him after the game. This is going to be a tough season for the Vikings, but McDermott, who now has 3,659 yards rushing, will keep going and going and will probably wind up with at least 4,200 yards. 3. Nice to be back at Crum Stadium. For a variety of reasons -- namely Allen and Dieruff haven't been that good and Central Catholic has been spectacular the last few seasons and drew steady coverage from LVC beat man Stephen Miller -- I have not covered a game at J. Birney Crum Stadium since 2008. It has been so long that I almost went into the wrong bathroom at the far west end of the concourse level. They used to be reversed with the men's room now where the women enter. Anyway, I spent a lot of time in that facility over the first 25 years, or so, of my career and of course, it was the place I spent a lot of fall Friday nights as a kid growing up in Allentown. Glad to see that they've cleaned up the place since I was last there. The locker rooms could probably still use an overhaul, and I still miss those southside stands, but the place is still looking good. And kudos to Central Catholic P.A. announcer John Rosenberger for his enthusiasm and professionalism at the mike. John even gives you a weather report at the start of the night. He does a great job of keeping everybody informed of what's going on and in a loud, clear -- some might say, booming -- voice. John loves CCHS, but I think he also loves high school sports in general. It was also very classy of him to offer a moment of silence and prayer on behalf of the late Glenn Grigg, the clock operator and general good guy, who died in July after a heart attack. Even though Glenn was a Bangor and Allen man, he, too, cared a great deal about that stadium and high school sports and the tribute to him was well done.