The last home game of the regular season is traditionally senior night in which the senior members of the home team are honored with their parents. It has become somewhat of a tradition that the Parkland football team comes away with a victory in that final home game.

“It’s a great way to go out and leave our legacy as a class,” said senior wide receiver Carrick Panella. “We don’t want to be the class that loses on senior night. We work hard all week because we know it’s our last home game. It’s a good feeling to secure that last win on this field.”

The Trojans (7-2 overall) used different ways of scoring last Friday night, capitalizing on their successful running game, but also breaking through in the passing game.

Three different running backs found the end zone, and junior quarterback Michael Ruisch hooked up with junior wide receiver Juan Salas twice in a 42-0 victory over Northampton at Parkland Area School District Stadium.

It was the second straight week that Parkland won an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference game by 40 or more points while shutting out its opponent.

“It’s nice to see the offense come together these last few games,” said Panella. “The running game has been strong all year, but the passing game really came out tonight. We were really working hard at practice to get open and run good routes and complete some passes, and just make the safe catch. We want to keep the two aspects balanced and running off each other.”

Ruisch and Salas connected on their first score on the Trojans first possession of the game, a six-play, 49-yard drive that was capped by the 28-yard touchdown throw and catch.

Junior Jahan Worth recorded a sack on the Kids next drive, and then followed that up with back-to-back touchdown runs of 17 and 12 yards. Salas caught his second touchdown from Ruisch from 29-yards out with just four seconds to go until halftime, and the Trojans went into the locker room up 28-0.

With the rain coming down at a steady pace, and an important conference rivalry showdown just a week away, all that was on the mind of head coach Tim Moncman was to score once more for the mercy rule and rest up his regulars.

He could rest a little bit easier on their first possession out of the locker rooms. On the fifth play of the drive, senior back Nick Suriel found pay dirt from 3-yards away to put Parkland up 35-0. The defense took over from there.

“Having another shutout is huge for our confidence as a defense,” Panella said. “We’ve been tackling better lately, and really getting after the ball and forcing three-and-outs. We just have to keep everything as perfect as we can heading into next week.”

Senior DJ Hohman got on the scoreboard late in the third quarter, and all that was left was to milk the clock.

The Trojans are now focusing on a pivotal matchup with Emmaus (8-1 overall) on the road Friday night.

“It’s going to be intense,” stated Panella. “Both teams are playing really well this year. We don’t like each other and always want to beat each other. It’s going to be a fun game to be a part of.”