In the third quarter of last Friday night's game against Nazareth, Parkland held a slim 21-14 lead after fumbling inside the 10.

After forcing a Blue Eagle punt on the next possession, Eli Redmond found an opening and raced along the sideline 85 yards to give the Trojans a 14-point lead and all but seal the game.

"I think I did a pretty good job rushing, but I want to give credit to the offensive lineman," Redmond said. "Coach McGorry said he wanted to see me use the blocking and they just did a great job tonight."

Redmond and Jarel Elder combined for 275 second half rushing yards, and the Parkland defense once again held a high-powered offense in check on the way to a 42-21 Lehigh Valley Conference victory over Nazareth at Orefield Middle School. It was the fourth straight win for Parkland (4-2, 4-1 LVC), and it moved into a second place tie with Whitehall, one game behind unbeaten Easton.

The Trojans finished with 572 yards of total offense and did not even attempt a pass in the second half.

"I think we have to keep working on it each week, but we're getting better and better each week," said Redman on the offense.

Parkland's defense, again, showed its grit. After a 16-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Parish Simmons, the Trojans prevented the Blue Eagles from scoring on their next eight possessions. Nazareth came in averaging 45 points per game this season.

"Defensively we knew they could score," Elder said. "Our objective the whole week was to stop that. We had to do what we did last week, running to the ball, just keep doing everything that we've been doing. We had to play a sound game defensively. We knew they were quick, we just had to stay with them."

Zach Gurinowich, Shaun Heist, Naze Haddad, Paul Tajiri and David Barber played a huge role in stifling the Blue Eagles attack. They held running back Jordan Gray to 16 rushing yards.

The defense forced a fumble from Simmons on the first possession of the game, and it was recovered by senior linebacker Tanner Stengel. Redmond also came away with an interception in the second quarter when the game was tied at fourteen.

Parkland's six touchdowns netted an average of 46 yards from scrimmage. Redmond tallied three rushing touchdowns (21, 58, and 85 yards), Elder went for two (25 and 53 yards), and quarterback Tim Baranek connected with senior wideout Andrew Fuehrer for 35 yards.

No one in the LVC may be playing better than Parkland over the last four weeks. The Trojans have scored 94 points, and gave up 44 in posting consecutive wins over Whitehall and Nazareth, two of the other top LVC contenders.

"It's big for us, we've been playing well," said Redmond. "We have to be ready for next week and just get back at it."

Parkland's next opponent this Friday, Freedom, is no slouch. It will be homecoming weekend at Parkland.