The Parkland running game, and in particular senior Kareem Williams, broke out in a big way in the second half of last week's subregional semifinal football game.

The junior pushed the Trojans to a 27-10 win last Friday night at Whitehall High School. The win gives Parkland a chance at revenge against Easton in the District 11 Class AAAA final Friday at Parkland School District stadium.

It took a little while for the rushing attack to get going. If not for a 35-yard touchdown connection between Devante Cross and Eli Redmond just before halftime, the teams were equal in many aspects of the game, including a 3-3 score.

But thanks to that score, and a fourth-and-one stuffing of Saquon Barkley on the Zephyrs previous drive, the Trojans (11-1) went into the locker room with all of the momentum and a 10-3 lead.

"We made some adjustments to our running game," said head coach Jim Morgans. "In the first half we didn't move the ball very well on the ground.

"We were running the same things [in the second half] and just adjusted the way we were running. I give my offensive coaches a lot of credit. They did an outstanding job of adjusting the offense."

The adjustments paid dividends in the final two quarters. Williams rushed 25 times for 157 of his 227 yards in the second half. He also added two touchdowns, the only two Parkland tallied that half. He was running with a purpose, breaking tackles and moving the chains, taking the majority of the carries.

"I can't come out strong all of the time, but once I wait for my offensive line to adjust to their schemes then it just happens," Williams said. "If the coaches want to give me the ball, I'm more than happy to take it."

Williams' first touchdown late in the third quarter gave the Trojans a commanding 20-3 lead, and his second, from 34 yards out, put the game away with 3:06 to go.

The Parkland defense forced three turnovers on three interceptions off Jeffrey Charles passes. Eli Redmond, Najee Redmond, and Naze Haddad came away with the take aways, with the latter two coming on the Zephyrs final two possessions when they were looking for a comeback.

Whitehall got to within 20-10 with a Ryan Bonshak one-yard rush with 8:30 remaining, but the Trojan defense again held firm.

It was the second time Parkland defeated Whitehall this season, and the third time in the last two. The Trojans will now go for a second straight district title Friday night against the only Lehigh Valley Conference foe to beat them in the last two seasons.

"It's time to move on from this and get stronger," said Williams. "We're looking forward to this game. We're looking for a championship and to move on to states."

Parkland will look to improve from the last meeting back on September 6 when it was shutout 24-0.