After a tepid first quarter, the Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (3-1, 2-2) pounced on, and all over, the Parkland Trojans (2-2, 1-2) in a 44-7 mercy-rule rout at BASD Stadium. The defeat raised many questions for the Trojans.

Four games into the season, the Trojans are a .500 team and heading in the wrong direction.

The way it went last Saturday night was most certainly the wrong way. The Trojans were outplayed on both the offensive and defensive lines of scrimmage. Their inability to consistently run the football left Parkland reduced to a finesse team sputtering on two cylinders. The modest success Parkland had in the first quarter running the football gradually morphed into the offensive abyss. Unable to consistently run, the Trojans faced many third-and-longs.

For the game, Parkland amassed just seven first downs and 154 yards in offense. The Trojans consistently struggled to sustain drives, converting only two of 14 third-down plays. Some of those failures were self-inflicted, with dropped balls and mental mistakes. Parkland also uncharacteristically committed 94 yards in penalties.

When good fortune came knocking, they shut the door. On three separate occasions, Bethlehem Catholic botched kickoffs with the ball traveling only to around midfield. Yet Parkland’s offense failed to capitalize on any of them, authoring three anemic offensive possessions.

Parkland quarterbacks Ty Tremba and Tanner Lewis combined went 8-for-23 for 82 yards. The speedy Golden Hawk secondary played a solid game, shutting down post, hook and fly patterns more often than not. Bethlehem Catholic also read screen passes quickly and flew to the ball, resulting in plenty of gang tackling.

Isiah Rico led the Trojan running attack with 42 yards on 17 carries. His longest run on the evening was six yards. That’s mostly because Parkland trap plays didn’t work and neither did their straight ahead runs. Credit Bethlehem Catholic’s solid defensive play. Most of the night, the Hawks won their individual matchups and dictated to Parkland what they could and could not do.

The Trojans’ lone offensive bright spot came in the third quarter with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Tremba to Dante Medlar, but that came when the score was 30-0 and the game’s outcome already decided.

The Parkland defense was torched for 419 yards and 19 first downs. They were completely unable to stop the run, as the Golden Hawks gained 233 yards. The decisive quarter proved to the be the second quarter. Leading 3-0, Becahi quarterback Jared Richardson threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Matt Stianche to give the Hawks a 10-0 lead. On the ensuing drive, a Lewis pass was tipped and picked off. Two plays later, Bethlehem Catholic running back Tavion Banks weaved his way to a glorious 32-yard score and the rout was on.

Only twice previously has the Parkland football program been mercy ruled - the 2011 district semis in a 63-17 loss to Nazareth, and in 2017 in the state playoffs to St. Joseph’s Prep 49-14. Historically, it is rare for the Trojans to surrender 35 points in a game, let alone lose by more than five touchdowns.