Northampton’s Sincere Wadlington saw a simple solution to his team’s last minute, 41-34 shootout defeat to Liberty last week.

“The game had its ups and downs,” said the senior tight end/defensive end. “But when it came down to key plays, we let up big plays. We’re learning how to adapt to games that we have to play four quarters for and getting better each and every game.”

With the loss, the Konkrete Kids evened their record at 2-2. They will host Whitehall (3-1) in their annual Cement Bowl Friday night.

On a positive note, the Kids’ Chase Kessler rushed for 159 yards and scored three touchdowns, and Zander Rickert added 122 yards with a pair of touchdowns.

Kessler acknowledged his offensive line for his big night. He also sees the game becoming clearer to him.

“I give credit to my offensive line for giving me he holes to run through,” said Kessler. “We work on run vision every week, and I am adjusting to the speed of Friday nights.

The sophomore running back believes his club will bounce back from the loss.

“We let one slip away, but we will learn from it,” said Kessler. “The game didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but we will work t get it better.”

Head coach John Toman liked his contributions from Kessler, Rickert, and his offensive line, but he has concerns about his defense, mainly his secondary.

“We did a nice job up front controlling Liberty defensively,” said Toman. “Defensively it takes 11 guys on the same page, especially versus offensive talent like Liberty has. That being said, we were not on the page defensively in the secondary and allowed big plays.

“I think it was more about what we weren’t doing and credit to Liberty. They exploited it. We will go back to work to correct the mistakes to get on the same page.”

Wadlington knows there is plenty of season left that begins with rival Whitehall Friday.

“We’re a good team, and we’ll move on to the next day,” added Wadlington. “It all starts at practice on Monday and how we approach it. We just need to win the day.

“It’s all day-by-day, and you try to win the day. Then you come to game day on Friday and do what we practiced and win the game. This week is even more exciting cause it’s our rivals, so we are extra pumped up.”

Toman envisions basically the same picture with Whitehall Friday without the same result.

“They (Whitehall) are very similar to Liberty,” said Toman. “They have talented skill people and appear more stout up front.”

KIDS KUDOS: Wadlington has 20 tackles, and Rocco Amato leads the team with 21 stops ... Quarterback Gavin Taff has completed 35 of 56 passes for 356 yards with four touchdowns ... Kessler is their leading rusher with 376 and six touchdowns, and Rickert has 269 yards with four touchdowns ... Whitehall began last season with a 1-3 record ... Northampton trounced the Zephyrs 41-10 last season, and the Konkrete Kids have won three of the last five contests. Whitehall last win was in 2023 by a 45-44 score in a wild game ... Zephyrs running back Jeziah Gregory rushed for 84 yards with a touchdown, and he has 516 yards and nine touchdowns for the season ... Tanner Dogmanits has completed 45 of 62 passes for 584 yards with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions through his four games ... Justin Hussett and Braidyn Delvalle lead the Zephyrs with 18 tackles. Hussett has an interception. Hussett also has rushed for 57 yards on 12 carries and has 12 receptions for 66 yards ... Hussett also has returned six kicks for an average of 36.50 yards ... Tanner Dogmanits caught six pass for 85 yards with two scores against Pocono Mountain West, and he has 15 passes for 314 yards with six touchdowns for the season.

PREDICTION (Season record 2-2): This is a tough call. It should be a game remnant of the old Lehigh Valley league battles ... Northampton needs to bounce back, and Whitehall is rolling ... Tempers have flared in the past between these two teams, and it could happen again ... Northampton win at Whitehall last year, and Whitehall won at Northampton in 2023 ... Tanner Dogmanits can be the difference maker here, and Zephyrs need to clamp down on Kids’ running game ... Northampton is more desperate going into this one, but assistant head coach Kevin Ronalds can pick me up another tomato pie from Roseto when I hopefully see him in October … ZEPHYRS, 24-21.