Whitehall knew it had a huge challenge ahead of them when they traveled to Nazareth last Friday night. The Blue Eagles, led by Auburn recruit quarterback Peyton Falzone, routed Hazleton, 46-7, in the opener.

The Zephyrs were coming off an impressive 38-14 pasting of Wilkes-Barre Area in the opener.

Unfortunately for Whitehall, though, they couldn’t keep the pace.

Nazareth stormed out to a 28-14 halftime lead, and the Blue Eagles continued to soar to a 62-33 victory.

With the defeat, Whitehall (1-1) will look to rebound when it hosts East Stroudsburg South (0-2) Friday night.

Zephyrs’ head coach Andy Marino saw some growth despite the lopsided score. He expects his club to bounce back.

“Nazareth came out strong,” said Marino. “Our players responded late in the first half and into the second half. We obviously struggled to stop them. We saw growth from a lot of players and we need to have an excellent week of practice to continue to see growth.”

Quarterback Tanner Dogmanits, who completed nine of 19 attempts for 214 yards and two touchdowns, saw the game as a stepping stone.

“The game Friday was against a good team and it let us figure out what type of team we are,” said Dogmanits. “We knew coming into the game that it would have to be a fourth quarter battle to win.”

The junior, who is in his second year running the offense, sees himself playing a more active role this season.

“With having a full year of varsity experience, I feel more like a leader on the team,” stressed Dogmanits. “My teammates are going to rely on me guiding them on and off the field. I feel more comfortable in the backfield reading the defense and making the right decisions as well.”

Running back Jeziah Gregory, a transfer from Bethlehem Catholic, saw a similar picture.

“The game against Nazareth didn’t go the way we wanted,” said Gregory, who was the team’s leading ground gainer with 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “We showed flashes of how good we can be, but we need to finish the whole four quarters.”

Marino anticipates his club to again flex its muscles.

“We expect a well-disciplined game and a strong effort against East Stroudsburg South,” added Marino.

WHITEHALL WAVES: Falzone completed 21 of 29 passes for 284 yards with three touchdowns ... Whitehall has lost its last five matchups with East Stroudsburg South, the latest being a 22-17 defeat in the District 11 Class 5 A championship game last year. During the regular season, ESS won 37-7 at Whitehall, a piece of their 10-3 season ... Senior Talon Dogmanits, the team’s leading receiver this year, caught two balls for 63 yards last week ... On the defensive side, Braidyn Delvalle led he team with eight tackles, and Nolan Hudak and Aiden Hannis each added six stops ... ESS is coming off a 48-19 loss to Northampton. It was a similar situation as Whitehall’s with Northampton pulling way in the second half, outscoring them 27-6 after halftime. Quarterback Ivan Laubach completed five of 18 passes for 119 yards, and e ran for 68 yards with two scores. Running back Gianni Gonnella rumbled for 137 yards on 21 carries and had a touchdown ... Northampton racked up 379 yards rushing on 49 carries last week against them.

PREDICTION (Season record 2-0): The Zephyrs will look to tighten and clean things up from last week, as they expected to say close with Nazareth. EES has been a thorn in their side the last few years, but Whitehall is catching them in a retooling season ... Tanner Dogmanits is finding his grove, and the Zephyrs will need a strong ground game behind Gregory ... head boys’ basketball coach Jeff Jones can pick me up another cheesesteak from SMP Mini-Mart and keep it in his freezer ... ZEPHYRS, 28-14.