The Parkland football team continued its surge as it scored a season-high 35 first-half points and held on to defeat rival Whitehall 48-29 last Friday night in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division game at Whitehall High School.

The Trojans (5-2 overall, 4-2 EPC South) have now won three games in a row after losing two straight. Getting players healthy and younger players gaining experience has helped them get back into the winning ways.

“We have had solid practice weeks and it definitely helps getting an almost fully healthy roster back in regards to leadership and impact plays on the field,” said senior offensive lineman Nick Dawkins. “Everyone trusts the man next to them.”

One of those younger players stepping into a major role is sophomore quarterback Ty Tremba. Tremba has three career starts under his belt, and his last one may have been his most impressive thus far. He is 3-0 on the year, and in last week’s win over the Zephyrs (0-7, 0-6) he completed 17-of-24 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns, all season highs. He also rushed for 36 yards and a score.

“Ty is making tremendous strides every day,” Dawkins said. “He stepped up as a sophomore quarterback, but has the confidence and awareness of an NFL veteran. The most I can do for him is give him as much time as he needs in the backfield and in the pocket so he can make plays, and he’s been doing a great job of that so far.”

Parkland scored the game’s opening touchdown on a four-yard run by leading rusher Isiah Rico. The junior back finished with 122 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns.

Tremba’s favorite target, Nick Johnston, had a career-high night, hauling in 10 catches for 242 yards and two touchdowns. Angel Santos and Tanner Lewis also found the end zone, on the ground, with runs of six yards and two yards respectively.

Dawkins is one of several key players that were injured or missed the first couple of weeks but are now back and putting their stamp on the regular season.

“It feels amazing to be back, being out those couple games made me realize that I was taking these Friday nights for granted,” said Dawkins. “It added another motivation in my game. Now getting guys back is only adding more firepower in our arsenal.”

Whitehall got on the board via a 57-yard run by Ali Barkley to cut its deficit to 14-7 early in the second quarter. But Tremba and Rico rushed in on back-to-back scores to put Parkland up 28-7.

Parkland hosts Stroudsburg on Friday night in a nondivisional match up before finishing up the regular season with games at Easton and against Emmaus.

“Just going out having great practice weeks and playing like maniacs,” said Dawkins. “As seniors we know we only have that many regular season games left in a Parkland uniform so that adds another reason to play as hard as you can.”