Whitehall football coach Andy Marino looked on like a proud father as his Zephyrs raised the District XI Class 5A championship trophy after defeating Pocono Mountain East, 35-24, on Nov. 8 at Catasauqua Middle School’s Alumni Field.

“They do all the work,” said Whitehall coach Andy Marino. “I just blow the whistle and make sure they’re on time, but it’s a great group of kids this year, and hopefully they remember these life lessons forever, and hopefully they remember this forever. It’s kind of who we were all year- good, bad, we kind of rode the wave, and I’m super proud of them.”

Arguably, Whitehall’s hardest work was done in the second half as the Zephyr defense stepped up to shut out the Cardinals, who stayed a step ahead of the Zephs for the first 24 minutes.

“We talked to the line of scrimmage very bluntly,” said Marino. “This is exactly what I thought was going to happen as far as their ability to move the ball. Once we settled in in the second half, I thought we took it over on the line of scrimmage. They’re talented and they’re well-coached. I’m not surprised it was a close game.”

Whitehall took a 28-24 lead late in the third quarter on Talon Dogmanits’ 9-yard rushing touchdown and Cole Richards’ extra point.

Late in the fourth quarter, Justin Hussett’s 11-yard run to Pocono Mountain East’s 26-yard line set the table for a Tanner Dogmanits (161 passing yards) touchdown after Hussett rushed to the 1-yard line.

“They came out and punched us in the mouth first, so I knew we had to come back strong if we were gonna win this game,” said Hussett (137 rushing yards, 1 touchdown). “They’re a tough opponent.”

The district final was the first meeting between the teams this season.

“Throughout the week, we watched a lot of film and tried to pick up on a lot of key details that they would do,” Hussett said.

Pocono Mountain East quarterback Ceejay Serfass relied on Amari Green and Justin Williams for most of the night, although Serfass had two touchdowns for the Cardinals.

Serfass then capped off the first half with an 18-yard passing touchdown to Devon Jackson and a 24-21 lead.

Iskander Blanco, Henry Shultz, and James Hopkins had 7 tackles apiece for the Zephyrs, but Blanco’s sack on 4th-and-goal with 2:29 remaining sealed the game for Whitehall.

Blanco and Hopkins also had first-half touchdowns, the latter on a 29-yard pass.

“In the past, that play ended up wide open for me, but I ended up dropping it, but we came back to it this week, and right before the play, before he snapped it, [Tanner] said keep your eyes open. It’s coming,” Hopkins explained. “I saw the ball was a little far, so I really had to get on my horse there, and I ended up catching it, and it felt great. We just wanted it more. It was manning up, stepping up, and doing our jobs.”

Whitehall will compete in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A Football Tournament when they host Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic from District 12 on Nov. 14 at Whitehall.