With the game against Northampton on tap for this weekend, the Zephyr football team knows that they’ll be in a for a fight in their annual end-of-season grudge match.

While Northampton’s record is sub .500, the Zephyrs can’t afford to be complacent knowing that the Kids would like nothing better to end their season on a winning note.

They’ll once again be playing for the Cement Bowl Trophy, with Whitehall keeping a firm grip on the hardware since 2009.

Head coach Brian Gilbert said that the Kids present a lot of problems offensively, and they must be ready to see and react to multiple alignments and fronts throughout the game.

“We have to make sure that we’re lined up correctly,” said Gilbert.

He also said that Northampton’s very experienced on defense, returning six or seven starters to a good unit that’s looking to disrupt what the Zephyrs want to do.

A few players who stood out on film are Tyrese Brandon and Aiden Jones, both of whom are two-way players who can change a game from either side of the ball. The Kids are led by quarterback Josh Smith who has 595 passing yards this season, including three touchdowns. Brandon has 352 yards on the ground so far this season, finding pay dirt four times.

Gilbert said that the Kids have been able to see their whole body of work on film so that will also play a factor in the game. They’ve seen their tendencies and will look to stop them from executing. Gilbert said, however, that they’ve also been able to watch the Kids in their games this season, so they’ll be looking to counter what they do on both sides of the ball.

Gilbert said that it’s important to maintain that level of intensity that helped fuel their win over Stroudsburg last week.

“We have to keep that upbeat and fast tempo and keep doing the things that we were doing [against Stroudsburg],” said Gilbert. “We have to feed off last week’s successful effort.”

He also stresses that they have to fly to the ball and tackle as well as they did against the Mounties. The Zephs are led on defense by Dez Boykin who has 56 tackles this season. Boykin also has a chance to continue his consecutive touchdown streak, scoring at least one TD for the last 15 games. With stats compiled as of Oct. 13, Boykin is second in receptions with 42 and fifth in yardage with 578.

The team will once again rely on quarterback Ethan Parvel to set the tone on offense. As of Oct. 13, Parvel is fourth among area quarterbacks (all classifications) with 1278 yards. He’s also second in TD tosses with 17.

With a win, the Zephyrs have a chance to solidify their hold on the first place. They sit atop the 5A classification with a .743 power ranking.

A win ensures that the Zephyrs will be the top seed. If they repeat as district champions, they would host the opening round of the Sub Regional 5A playoffs. Gilbert said that the site rotates every year, and if they get that far, the game would be at Zephyr Stadium.