The Parkland High School football team knew that it was in for a challenging game on its home turf last weekend.

In a matchup of unbeatens through the first two weeks of the regular season, the Trojans left Parkland School District Stadium still undefeated at 3-0, as they took down Northampton 38-27 last Friday night in a nonconference matchup.

It was a tightly-contested game throughout as Parkland had to hold on in the end to walk off winners.

“It was a four-quarter, full 48-minute battle just as we expected,” said PHS assistant coach Mike Facchiano. “Northampton is talented. They have great size up front, and their skills are very athletic. It was an opportunity for us to continue to develop and grow as a team.”

The Trojans tallied a first-quarter touchdown and then outscored Northampton 21-14 to take a 28-14 at halftime.

Parkland emerged from the locker room and added another score to go up by 21. They then had to hold on to a late surge from the Kids that saw them pull to within just a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

When Northampton made its run late and pulled to within a score, the Trojans never wavered and kept their composure. And, according to the coaching staff, that comes down to trust within the program.

“We have emphasized all year that it comes down to trust,” Facchiano said. “We were able to get the win by doing our job, trusting our brothers next to us and playing with love for each other.”

Finn Coen connected with Blake Nassry for a 21-yard touchdown on their third drive of the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.

The Kids tied the game early in the second quarter on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Taff to Joey High.

TJ Lawrence answered with a 12-yard rush to the end zone and a 14-7 advantage.

Taff then once again hit High for a 22-yard score and another tie game, 14-14. Coen gave his team a little bit more of a cushion as he threw back-to-back touchdowns to Nassim Adams just before halftime. That duo came up big when the team needed a spark.

“Finn has been growing and maturing as a quarterback right in front of us since the offseason and through camp,” said Facchiano. “You can certainly see the work he has put in, the athletic ability of Nass and the chemistry they bring over from playing [basketball] for coach [Eddie] Ohlson together.”

At the start of the third quarter, Lawrence added a 10-yard touchdown run to add on to the lead. But the rest of the quarter was owned by Northampton as it recorded two straight rushing touchdowns to cut its deficit to 35-27.

In a one-score game in the fourth quarter, Greyson Dancsecs connected on a 21-yard field goal to finish off the scoring.

Coen threw for 157 yards and three scores. Adams caught four passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Lawrence ran for 49 yards and two scores.

Parkland has its third home game in a row when it hosts Pleasant Valley on Thursday night. The Bears enter the game at 1-2 overall.