It was a game that the Parkland football players, coaches, and fans had circled on their calendars for a little while. Despite both being inaugural members of the three-year old Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, the Trojans hadn’t played Bethlehem Catholic for a few years. With the way that the conference was aligned, it didn’t allow these two successful programs to meet on the gridiron until the league realigned before the start of the season.

It was a highly-anticipated match-up between a high powered, high-scoring offense with a number of different play makers, against a defense that has shut down opponents for most of the season, averaging just 7.8 points per game for opposing offenses.

Becahi’s offensive attack was in full display last Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. The aerial attack, and ground game gave Parkland fits all night, and the Hawks got the better of them 34-7 to take sole possession of first place in the EPC after Emmaus lost to Nazareth.

Javon Clements threw for 243 yards and four touchdowns, connecting with four different receivers for touchdowns in Randy Terry III, Daizhun Rhoades, Karim Powell and Nick Petros. He finished 12-for-17 passing and without a turnover.

Terry III added 115 yards and a touchdown rushing to round out an impressive performance by the Bethlehem Catholic offense. The Golden Hawks (6-1 overall) finished with 380 total yards. They jumped on the Trojans early, taking a 20-0 lead into halftime.

“Second half, I’m happy we battled,” Parkland head coach Tim Moncman said. “But first half, we just did not show up. They came after us and we didn’t play a very good first half. I’m glad we got a little fire in the second half.”

Becahi’s offense out-gained Parkland’s offensive unit 220-102 in the first half with two of its touchdowns coming on 43-yard passes.

The Trojans (5-2 overall) just could not get anything going offensively. They were forced to punt three times in the first half, got intercepted on another drive and ended a fifth series when it couldn’t pick up a first down on a fourth-and-1 play.

“We knew they were a great defense,” said Moncman. “We weren’t able to run the football, a tribute to them.”

The Hawks defensive front held the three-headed monster of Jahan Worth, Nick Suriel, and Frank Guida in check. Parkland finished with 101 yards on 35 carries.

An element of the offense that is sometimes put on the back burner, showed glimpses of success.

Junior Michael Ruisch finished 17 of 31 for 181 yards passing, one touchdown and two interceptions, after starting the game 4-of-9 for 29 yards in the first half. Senior wide receiver Zach Bross caught six passes for 88 yards while sophomore Conner Bernecker had five catches for 62 yards and the touchdown.

“At least we learned somethingl,” Moncman said. “We can spread and throw the ball. We weren’t sure if we could do that successfully. It’ll give us another weapon we can use. Michael stepped up tonight and played well.”

It was the second loss of the season for Parkland, which just didn’t seem to ever get into a rhythm either both side of the ball.

“Sometimes, it’s not your night,” Moncman said. “But they’re a great football team. We’ll bounce back and see what happens the rest of the way. We’ve got to learn from this. I explained to our guys, a lot has to do with how we practice. Our intensity has to pick up. This week, it wasn’t great on offense and it showed.”