When the Parkland football team last lost a game, the Trojans were staring at an 0-2 hole early in the season. Eight straight wins propelled Parkland to a share of the Lehigh Valley Conference title, and a berth in the District 2-4-11 sub regional tournament.

A quarterfinal match up put the Trojans against the team that beat them last, Easton.

This time Parkland turned the tables on the Red Rovers, and scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to get revenge on Easton, and return to the semifinals with a 41-10 win last Saturday night at Cottingham Stadium in Easton. The Trojans (9-2) will face the only other remaining District 11 opponent, Pleasant Valley, at Orefield Middle School Friday night.

"I don't even really know how to explain it," said senior defensive end Shaun Heist. "This was probably one of the best wins that I, personally, have had as a Parkland Trojan. We knew that this was one of our biggest games, and that we would remember this for the rest of our lives."

Heist played a big role as a member of a defensive unit that shutout a potent Red Rovers attack. Parkland shut down the running game, and held Easton (9-2) scoreless in the second half. The running game averaged a mere 3.3 yards per carry, and the Rovers were held to 211 yards of total offense.

Jarel Elder, a key member of the Trojans offense, returned from an ankle injury that saw him miss the Emmaus game the last week of the regular season. Elder said he wasn't 100 percent, but it didn't show. His two touchdown runs in the third quarter sparked the rout, and his interception of Brad Wilkins, also in the third quarter, sealed the victory.

"We're a second half team," Elder said. "The first half we got acclimated to everything and kept the tempo up. And that's the key thing, we kept the tempo up in the second half."

Parkland opened the scoring on their first possession. Quarterback Tim Baranek took it in from a yard out, but Easton answered with 10 consecutive points, and the two teams fittingly went into halftime with a tie score at 10-10.

Things didn't appear to be going in the Trojans direction at the start of the second half, however. A 31-yard touchdown connection from Baranek to Jarey Elder was called back for illegal touching, Elder had apparently stepped out of bounds before making the catch. Parkland wound up punting, but the game swung in their favor on that punt.

When the ball hit the field, it bounced around and hit an Easton lineman, and was recovered by Mike Schock. Five plays later, Eli Redmond found the end zone from nine yards out for the game-winning touchdown. Redmond had two scores on the night.

Elder's second touchdown, racing 76 yards down the field, was the icing on the cake and gave his teammates and coaching staff the opportunity to celebrate a monumental win.

"We were told all week that [Easton] was a great team," said Heist. "We knew it was going to be a street fight. We were going to take our brothers against their brothers, and we're going to see who comes out. And that's just how it happened. We came out to play."

Senior kicker Zach Owen hit field goals from 32 and 42 yards for the Trojans.