Last time Northampton met Nazareth, Konkrete Kids’ running back Chase Kessler ran for 315 yards and scored three touchdowns, leading them to a 41-28 victory.

Friday night at Nazareth, Kessler will be expected to have an encore when the two teams meet in a District 11 Class 6A quarterfinal opening–round playoff game.

In spite of his record game two weeks ago, Kessler is looking at the big picture.

“I think we have to approach the game just like we did two weeks ago,” noted Kessler, who is a sophomore. “We were confident, and we all just did our jobs and nobody else’s.”

The Kids (4-6) will be looking to shake off a 24-21 loss to Bethlehem Catholic, another game that slipped away from them in the second half. Kessler also sees a similar script from Nazareth.

“I think we made some mistakes, but we will fix them,” stated Kessler about the Bethlehem Catholic game. “I don’t expect anything different from Nazareth, but you never know.

“We just have to be ready for anything, and we just have to get the job done.”

Head coach John Toman took the blame for the loss to Bethlehem Catholic. It wasn’t a typical effort.

“We didn’t have the kids ready to play,” stressed Toman. “That’s on us coaches. We played with little emotion and made uncharacteristic mistakes. We spotted them, 17 points, and we couldn’t overcome it.”

As for Nazareth, Toman may look for some new wrinkles.

“We pretty much know what is coming,” added Toman. “But I’m sure they will do something different.”

KIDS’ KUDOS: Nazareth is coming off a 51-14 trouncing by Easton, and the Blue Eagles were held to 21 yards rushing ... Nazareth leading rusher Marquez Wimberly has 1.377 yards and 18 touchdowns. Quarterback Cooper Madson, who took over for injured starter Peyton Falzone, has completed 77 of 136 passes for 1,191 yards with 12 touchdowns and two interceptions ... Luke DiPietro has 45 catches for 750 yards with eight touchdowns, and Matt Leluga has 28 catches for 456 yards with seven scores ... Kessler has run for 1,236 yards with 12 touchdowns, and Zander Rickert has 531 yards with eight touchdowns ... Kids’ quarterback Gavin Taff has completed 86 of 138 passes for 1,121 yards with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. Cam Hersch has caught 25 balls for 355 yards and two touchdowns ... The winner here meets the winner f the Stroudsburg-Parkland matchup ... Kids lost to Freedom, 38-15, in opening round last year ... Two years ago, they beat Stroudsburg, 31-15, in the opening round before they lost to eventual champion Nazareth, 21-7, in the semifinals.

PREDICTION (season record 4-6): Kids have been searching to be able to finish in most of their games, and it has affected their consistency on both sides of the ball. Defensive injuries have been an issue all season. Kids haven’t been able to find their stride. Nazareth will be looking to slow Kessler, but they didn’t have any success against Easton last week. Like the game better for the Kids if they had the home field. If Kessler can run the ball, this will be a close one. Something tells me I will be buying assistant head coach Kevin Ronalds the cheesesteak at Sal’s in Wind Gap this time ... NAZARETH, 27-24