For the last two weeks, life in Zephyr Football Land hasn't been too pleasant.

In fact, it's been miserable.

That's how head coach Brian Gilbert characterized the mood among players and coaches amid their two-game losing streak.

But when they took the field against Nazareth Area High School last Friday night, that bad feeling dissipated once Giovanni Hodge intercepted the ball to end the game.

The Zephs rolled to a 52-7 victory at Andrew S Leh Stadium, ending their two-game skid, while also lifting the spirits of players and coaches alike. The victory pushed their record to 6-2, and firmly established their foothold among the teams looking to secure a berth in the District 2/4/11 subregional playoffs.

It was a game in which they set the tone as soon as they took the first snap, converting their first six possessions into points.

"We needed to have a game like this tonight," said Gilbert. "Next week's our Super Bowl [against Emmaus], and from here on out, every week is our Super Bowl.

"We have to play like there's no tomorrow. If we want to get into the postseason, that's how we have to play."

The Zephs didn't waste any time putting points on the board. On their first possession they drove 49 yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead. That drive was capped by a 17-yard Saquon Barkley run, the first of four touchdowns on the ground for the Penn State-bound senior.

After forcing a three-and-out on the Blue Eagles ensuing possession, the Zephs got right back into the end zone. This time the drive covered 62 yards in four plays, highlighted by a 44-yard pass reception by Chad Rex. On the next play from scrimmage Barkley busted a 16-yard run to extend their lead to 14-0.

With defenses keying on Barkley and the ground game, Zephyr quarterback Gianni Sinatore was able to riddle their secondary for 183 yards, including an 80-yard strike to Jacob Buskirk for a TD.

Sinatore also burned the Blue Eagles on the ground. The junior signal caller finished with 93 yards rushing, including an 84-yard touchdown that gave the Zephs a 28-0 lead.

He engineered an offense that put up 603 yards of total offense on their Eastern Pennsylvania Conference counterparts. Sinatore said that this week's focus was playing Zephyr football again.

"It was really just to bounce back," said Sinatore. "It was to get back on the right track that we were on in the beginning of the season.

Sinatore said that the offensive line did a good job stepping up against Nazareth, creating big holes in the running game and controlling the line of scrimmage.

"That's really the key to our success," he said.

Sinatore said they needed to come out fast, and accomplished that mission by leading them to pay dirt on their first six possessions. With the running game hitting on all cylinders, Sinatore was able to find an array of receivers, including Conor Sullivan, Rex, Barkley, Buskirk, Mustafa Mitchell and Zach Hixson.

"That really sets up our passing game, opening up play action," said Sinatore.

As for that running game, Barkley finished with 196 yards. He now has 1,410 yards this season, including 22 TDs. Additionally, Buskirk finished with 30 yards, while Robert Tully had 16.

As well as they played on offense, they played just as spirited on defense. They allowed just 170 total yards, and seven different players registered tackles for losses, led by Joe Mark and Danny Roustic who had two apiece.

Gilbert said that they needed to make a statement about who they were as a football team, and defensive intensity played a big part in that equation.

"We were talking before the game, we need an identity," said Gilbert. "What's our identity? What is this Zephyr football team's identity? And we decided as a group, we're going to be a fast, physical team. That's what we wanted to do and we played like it tonight."

Their final score came late in the fourth quarter when Zach Gilbert drove the team 60 yards in 13 plays, culminating in a 13-yard touchdown toss to Pablo Peralta. That series also featured a 34-yard strike to Dalton Burrows on a 4th and 14 to keep the drive alive.

As they prepared for Friday's game, they wanted an opportunity to correct the mistakes they made in the last two games. They wanted to improve in all phases.

"We kind of asked everyone to look in the mirror, including the coaches, to see what we could do better," said Gilbert. "We needed more energy than we had the last two weeks, and more hitting power and tackling and blocking and things like that.

"We came out and did those things early and had a fast start because of it."