After his son's team lost the PIAA District 11 Class 2A championship to Pen Argyl last season, Steve Bradley was confident his son, Zack, and his teammates would make a return trip to the title tilt.

It was a close knit camaraderie among a group of players many of whom have played together since their flag football days that helped keep the thoughts afloat of a district crown returning to Catasauqua for the first time since 1992.

"These guys are a special class," stressed Bradley. "They know each other inside and out and they can do a number of things.

"Everyone who has been associated with the program for a long time has always known these guys would be able to accomplish a number of things before they graduate.

"They have the right chemistry between them and you don't see that too often."

Fortunately for everyone, Bradley's prognostication has paid several dividends this season as the crew embarked on their senior season. Their latest conquest was their biggest so far as they captured a highly-coveted goal of winning the district title with a convincing 54-28 victory over Palisades last Friday night.

The victory vaulted them into the opening round of the state playoffs against District 2 champion Lake-Lehman Friday night at Wyoming Valley West High School at 7 p.m. It will mark the first time the Roughies will play in the state postseason.

For the younger Bradley, the district title marked their most memorable victory since they were the 95-pound Catasauqua Youth Association (CYA) entry against North Parkland in the division's championship game in which they lost.

Besides Zack Bradley, Paryss Marshall, Jacob Stopay, Derrick Bond, Jared Nosal, Rhaine Sziy, Tyler Trobetsky, Brandon Purrone and Jared Stephen have played together the majority of the time throughout the CYA program.

"Yes, North Parkland," stressed Bradley about a memorable game for the crew before high school. "We will always remember that one. That was a great year for us because we beat Emmaus, 6-0, in a game in which we ran the same play every down and Derrick Bond finally broke one (run) for a touchdown.

"I also remember us playing a game under the lights on either a Monday or Tuesday night against the Bethlehem Steelers. That was cool at the time."

Bradley even recalled some superstition that was involved with some notable games.

"We played last year's district championship game against Pen Argyl on a Saturday and we had breakfast together that morning," Bradley said. "In the game against North Parkland, it was the same situation.

"So if this year's championship game was on a Saturday, we weren't having breakfast together."

Purrone, who incredibly has been playing with a tear in his ACL, knew his teammates would rise to the occasion this year.

After injuring his knee against Palmerton, Purrone admittedly played somewhat gingerly and had some limited mobility against Pen Argyl, but he didn't experience any major problems against Palisades.

He has cherished the memories over the years.

"We knew everything happened for a reason," said Purrone. "It was way too long that Catasauqua won a district title, and we wanted to bring back the hardware to the town. We knew we had to do whatever we could to get it done this year.

"We have played together for such a long time and this is more than just football. It is a family and we do a lot of things together. We are a band of brothers together, and we will always be that way."

Sziy didn't play with his teammates on the 95-pound team because he was on the 115-pound team at the time. But he has shared plenty of playing time along the way with his teammates in the CYA program.

"We really know each other well and it doesn't really take a lot of time to figure things out on the field," said Sziy. "We have a good feel for each other on the field and we know where each of us will be nearly at all times.

"It is a special time for us, and we want to keep this going in the right direction."

A first step to extend the special bond begins in the state playoffs Friday night.