The Northampton Konkrete Kids sent their fans home happy after a 49-0 victory over Dieruff in their home opener at Al Erdosy stadium.

As the clock ran out, his players christened head coach Kyle Haas with the traditional ice bucket shower in celebration of Haas’ first victory at the team’s helm.

The win evened Northampton’s record at 1-1 in the EPC and overall. Haas was pleased that his team bounced back from their season-opening loss at Parkland.

“This is a mental thing. They have to believe. They have to get some confidence,” Haas said. “We keep getting better every week. I think we have the opportunity to be a pretty good football team.”

The Kids took advantage of a couple of early Dieruff fumbles to build a 21-0 advantage after the first quarter. Junior RB Tyrese Brandon accounted for all three touchdowns on plays from within the Huskies’ 5-yard line. Brandon was on the receiving end of a 3-yard toss from senior QB Cam Eaton and scored on runs of 4 and 2 yards.

There was no scoring in the second quarter. An apparent 30-yard TD run by HB Joshua Gaycheck was brought back on a penalty. Tyrese Brandon got the K-Kids off to a fast in the second half by returning the kickoff to the 48. Two and half minutes later, FB Justin Ferguson capped the drive with a 4-yard TD run.

In all, Northampton racked 302 rushing yards behind 9 different players who carried the ball, led by senior captain Ethan Deater’s 93.

The key to the consistent attack was excellent play by the offensive line. When asked after the game who he thought stood out Haas said, “I thought our offensive line did a good job. Nate Bendekovits, Bubba Werkheiser, Dominic Solomon, Jared Everett, Matt Wiest. The reason we were successful was that we controlled the line of scrimmage.”

The Kids may have been even more dominant on the other side of the ball. The shutout speaks for itself, but the fact is the Huskies never had a serious scoring threat. Dieruff had a nice drive at the end of the first half, but that was snuffed out on a sack of QB Ejau Collazo near midfield as he attempted to buy time to throw a Hail Mary with no time left on the clock. The defense even chipped in on the scoring with Nick Caiazzo’s 21-yard interception return for a touchdown at the 10:31 mark in the fourth quarter.

Northampton will look to sustain its roll when Pleasant Valley comes south for another EPC North battle on Friday. The Bears have dropped their first two contests, a 42-0 opener to Liberty and 33-14 to Allen in their most recent game. Coach Haas was speaking of his players when he referred to belief and confidence, but from the buzz around stadium following the game, it’s clear that he is not the only one who thinks this team has the opportunity to be pretty good.