The Whitehall football team just completed a historic season, and now they’ll look forward to a productive offseason to help position them into title contention once again.

The Zephyrs won a District 11 Championship this season, becoming the first D-11 team to capture a 5A title in the newly formatted PIAA classification system.

Their march toward a district title started off a bit rocky. With early losses to Emmaus and Nazareth, head coach Brian Gilbert gathered his team together after the Blue Eagles loss and delivered a message. They were 2-2 and Gilbert said it was up to them to decide in which direction they wanted their season to go. They took that challenge and worked hard in practice that week and defeated a talented Liberty team that had just beaten undefeated Parkland.

From that point, they went 4-2 and made the district playoffs as the top seed.

“I thought we responded really well to our early adversity,” said Gilbert. “We had a really good stretch after that. That’s something these guys can really hang their hats on.”

The Zephyrs made it all the way to the PIAA 5A quarterfinal round where they were ousted by Archbishop Wood, finishing the season at 9-5.

It was quite a ride for the Zephyrs in 2016. They had a talented cast of skill players who were able to set records thanks to a stout offensive line. That line produced two first team Eastern Pennsylvania South All Stars: center Jacob Hudak and guard Tyler Meyers. Additionally, tight end Devin Martinez was also named to the EPC South first team.

Whitehall also placed Dez Boykin on the South first team. Boykin set two school records this season, becoming the single season leader in yards and catches. His 76 catches and 1,332 yards this year rank him first among receivers in Whitehall history. The junior also added 15 receiving touchdowns this season.

Whitehall also placed two more players on the EPC South all-star team. Jackson Buskirk actually earned two spots this year as he was named the second team safety as well as the second team offensive “Athlete.” Senior Zach Gilbert took second team honors at quarterback.

Zach Gilbert had an outstanding season as the Zephyr signal caller. In his first year as a starter, the lanky southpaw rewrote the record books. He’s now the school leader in yards and touchdowns for a season. Gilbert finished the year with 2,746 yards and 31 TDs. Additionally, Gilbert was among the recently announced Pennsylvania Mini Max High School Award Winners. This year sixty-two players were nominated by their coaches and selected based on football performance, academics and community service. The Mini Max Award recipients will be honored at a dinner to be held on Thursday Jan. 12, 2017, at the Drexelbrook Catering Ballroom in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

Whitehall will now be tasked with replacing a strong group of seniors who led the way to their first district championship in 19 years. That group includes Gilbert, Tavion George, Devin Castro, Buskirk, Jacob Snyder, Kasai Harrison, Ryan Klaugh Roy Reeves, Myers, Devin Martinez, Kevon Allen, Zachary Pantoni, Kori Zacharias, Nicolas Dex, Adrian Mieses, Michael Smith, Akil Pulyao, Amadou Fall, Jesus Martinez and Alexander Hatch.

Still, Gilbert said that a good corps will be coming back. That group is led by Boykin who will enter the 2017 season as the premier receiver in the EPC. Sophomore quarterback Ethan Parvel got some playing time this season, and he’ll be joined in the backfield by Braxton Marrero (624 yards) and Dabriel Ayala (164 yards).

On defense, the team will lose most of their leading tacklers. That’s where they’ll have the most holes to fill.

“Every year we’re able to find the kids who can fill those holes,” said Gilbert.

However, Gilbert believes that each current team has a part of the upcoming group, imparting what they know and their work habits onto the following year’s squad. Gilbert believes the 2016 team has played a big part in the growth of the underclassmen and that bodes well for the future.

Additionally, they’ll continue their rigorous offseason regimen to prepare for the upcoming season. Gilbert firmly believed that their workouts last year contributed to their lack of injuries this season.

And he also knows they’ll have a bull’s-eye on their backs as the defending district champs.