Last week, Whitehall knew it had a huge challenge ahead it hosted Nazareth, even though they were coming off a 63-34 opening-week defeat to Garnet Valley.

Zephyrs’ head coach Andy Marino also was aware that any turnovers could easily turn the tide against his team.

Unfortunately, the Zephyrs lost three fumbles and were flagged five times in a 49-13 defeat to the Blue Eagles.

Nazareth moved out to a 28-13 halftime lead, and they sealed the win with the first score after halftime.

“Nazareth has a bunch of excellent players and coaches,” stated Marino. “We did not help ourselves by having two turnovers on special teams, which gave them short fields. We had too many penalties on offense to keep drives going in the second half.”

Senior linebacker Josiah Murray was initially discouraged with the Nazareth defeat, but he realizes there is plenty of football ahead.

“The Nazareth game definitely didn’t go our way at all,” said Murray. “I was very disappointed in myself, but I’m very happy that this game happened to us early so that we understand what we need to work on.

“I made a lot of mistakes but all of my coaches and teammates went over the film, and we know what needs to be fixed.”

Fellow senior lineman Justin Heckert viewed Nazareth as an early reading on the team.

“I saw the Nazareth game as a big test to see how we do when we get to play a good team,” said Heckert. “It was about how we would respond to it and we have a lot to work on to improve and better the team.”

The Zephyrs will look to bounce back when they host Northampton in the annual Cement Bowl Friday night. Marino is confident his team can shake off the Nazareth defeat.

“We look forward to turning the page and playing Northampton,” said Marino.”

ZEPHYR ZOUNDS: Whitehall won a wild game, 56-49 last season after Northampton thumped them, 41-10, in 2024. The Kids have won three of the last five meetings ... Against Nazareth, quarterback Tanner Dogmanits was 9 of 12 for 162 yards with a passing and rushing touchdown. For the season, Dogmanits is 20 of 33 for 326 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Last year against Northampton, Dogmanits threw for 252 with three touchdowns and ran for 90 ... Jeziah Gregory ran for 89 yards, and Henry Schultz had four catches for 85 yards with a touchdown against Nazareth ... On defense against Nazareth, Ben Pychinka had seven tackles and Iskander Blanco added six stops ... Northampton running back Chase Kessler had run for a combined 324 yards with four touchdowns in their first two games

PREDICTION (Season record 1-1): The Zephyrs’ offense hasn’t really gotten into gear yet as they have scored 34 points in two games. They averaged 38.5 points per game last season ... There will be plenty of trash talking in this one, but several players on both sides know each other ... Both teams need the game to stay in the hunt in the ultra-competitive District 11 Class 6A playoff bracket ... Home team has lost the last three with Northampton last taking advantage of home field with a 42-7 win in 2022 ... This should be one of the better games in the greater Lehigh Valley ... It’s a tough call on both sides, but Northampton popped in my head when debating what team would win. This time, I will pick up a cheesesteak from SMP for new Zephyrs’ head cross country head coach Eugene Konno ... NORTHAMPTON, 28-25.