Drenching rain encroached on Friday night’s Holy War between Bethlehem Catholic and Allentown Central Catholic’s football teams, and a few whistles, or no whistles, may have also played a part in the Golden Hawks’ 17-7 loss to the Vikings at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown.

What was clear, however, was a blocked punt recovered by Central’s Peyton Elliot for the Vikings’ first touchdown in the opening minutes.

From there, two penalties hurt the Hawks, and the Vikings scored five minutes later on a 19-yard touchdown by Travis Foster.

But Hawks’ quarterback Jared Richardson and running back Maximus Johnson combined on a drive that resulted in seven points when Richardson punched it in for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal early in the second quarter.

“Jared’s probably, right now, our most talented running back, so we have to come up with ways for him to be able to throw the ball but also hurt people with his feet,” said Becahi head coach Kyle Haas. “He played a phenomenal game. He left everything out on the field. I couldn’t be happier for Jared Richardson. He’s pretty much put the offense on his back and carried us through nine games.”

The Hawks had another opportunity before halftime as Richardson and Johnson alternated carries, but were stopped on a fourth-and-four at the 13-yard line after a delay-of-game penalty.

Becahi’s defense held the Vikings in the third quarter, but missed another offensive opportunity after Richardson completed a 14-yard pass to Tyriek Rivera at the 26-yard line. Another pass into the end zone, intended for Jaiden Ellis-Lahey was incomplete, but Richardson’s carry on the next play was good for a first down.

With nowhere for Richardson to go on third-and-one, kicker Anthony Barczynski was unable to convert on a bad snap.

An apparent fumble recovery by the Hawks in the fourth quarter was ruled out after a discussion by the officials with 8:33 remaining in the game.

“They said it was an inadvertent whistle, and there was no inadvertent whistle, and we had a fumble later on that we recovered that they didn’t give to us,” Coach Haas said. “All season long, we’ve been dealing with this. It’s something our kids have to learn, that for whatever reason at Bethlehem Catholic, that we have to play that much better than our opponent because we’re not gonna get many calls. I wasn’t happy with the explanation I got because I didn’t hear an inadvertent whistle, but that’s the call they made.”

Luke Myers’ field goal for the Vikings with 3:18 remaining in the game made the final score 17-7.

“It was a season of transition,” said Coach Haas after the game, “the way they used to do things and the way we’re going to do things now. I think, for our kids, there was a big learning curve, like how to practice the right way, to show up on time, and to act right in school. All of those little things equal big things. You can’t win big football games if your teams aren’t disciplined, and that’s something we’re gonna continue to try to instill in our kids.”