BETHLEHEM – Bethlehem Catholic went into the locker rooms for halftime of their District 11 4A semifinal matchup with Allentown Central Catholic down 11 and with zero momentum. They had three turnovers and an inconsistent groove on offense.
They came out with a different but familiar plan on offense, and it worked. Behind a big second half, the Golden Hawks held on for a wild 34-31 win over the Vikings on Thursday night at BASD Stadium to advance to the District 11 Championship game next week.
“It was an emotional game and both teams left it all out there,” said Bethlehem Catholic head coach Joe Bernard. “I felt like up front we were able to swing the game in the second half by getting our running game going.”
The change on offense the Golden Hawks (8-4) made was flipping starting quarterback Cayden Vassa into the tailback spot and Axel Burkart under center. It was a move Bethlehem Catholic made seven weeks ago in their 28-24 regular season win over the Vikings (6-6) in a similar spot when they needed a spark on offense.
“I think its worked because when I have moved into the backfield it presents a different kind of back that they have to deal with,” Cayden Vassa said. “My running style I believe kept them off-balanced in each game this season.”
Cayden Vassa started under center and went 6-for-11 with just 71 yards plus two interceptions in the first half. He was strictly in the backfield the second half and powered the Golden Hawks run game with 144 yards on 22 carries with one touchdown.
Three turnovers plagued Bethlehem Catholic in the first half with the first coming on the opening kickoff when Isaiah Lebron was stripped of the ball by Trey Torres-Johnson to set the Vikings up inside the 20-yard line. The Golden Hawks limited the Vikings to a 29-yard field goal by Bryson Baker that made it 3-0. Allentown Central Catholic was not phased after being pinned at their own 3-yard line on a Golden Hawks punt as they went 97 yards in nine plays to go up 10-0 with 3:02 left in the first quarter. The Vikings used a pair of long runs from Tate Shoemaker and capped it with a 10-yard score from Deon Johnson.
The Golden Hawks went aggressive when facing a 4th-and-5 from the Vikings 12-yard line on their next drive and it paid off when Cayden Vassa hit Rodney Brodie over the middle for a touchdown to cut the deficit down to 10-6 early in the second quarter.
“It was a spot where we could trust our kids to make the play,” Bernard said. “It was the time to be aggressive with how that game started and our guys executed it perfectly.”
The Golden Hawks began to mix Burkart and Cayden Vassa one drive later, but it was still mostly Vassa under center and Antonio Salamoi put Bethlehem Catholic ahead for the first time in the game at 13-10 with 4:20 left in the first half following a 3-yard touchdown run.
Allentown Central Catholic ended up with decent starting field position after every Golden Hawks kickoff and quickly responded to go back up 17-13 just 56 seconds later following a 15-yard touchdown run from Torres-Johnson. Things continued to go haywire for the Golden Hawks when Cayden Vassa was intercepted on consecutive drives. The second interception led to a brilliant 19-yard touchdown run from Vikings quarterback Patrick Cahill in the final minute of the half to extend the lead to 24-13.
Emery Oberholzer forced and recovered a Vikings fumble on their second drive of the second half that helped swing momentum right into the Golden Hawks favor. With Burkart now fully under center, he pulled Bethlehem Catholic within four points at 24-20 with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Carter Vassa.
“We run this at practice all the time, so I was ready to go when I stayed under center,” Burkart said. “I felt very comfortable, and it helps to have a strong offensive line in front of me.”
With the Golden Hawks thriving with strong line play on both sides of the ball, Cayden Vassa scored his lone touchdown of the game a drive later with a 5-yard run to put Bethlehem Catholic back ahead 27-24 with 3:45 left in the third quarter.
Bethlehem Catholic’s pass rush made Cahill uncomfortable especially in the second half and it helped them maintain their lead following a third interception to the Vikings late in the third quarter.
“We put a lot of pressure on him (Cahill), more than he has seen in a while,” Bernard said. “We even missed some opportunities because of how elusive he is, but we knew if we kept getting pressure we would start to break through.”
An 18-yard touchdown run from Burkart with 9:44 left in regulation put the Golden Hawks up 34-24 and another forced punt seemingly left Bethlehem Catholic finally in full control.
However, Allentown Central Catholic staved off a pair of personal fouls and Cahill delivered a 37-yard touchdown pass to Harry Restino to make it a 34-31 game with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter. Penalties became a theme as the teams combined for 19 penalties for 195 yards with multiple personal fouls offsetting as well.
“We talked about penalties and not trying to get any off retaliatory actions,” Vikings head coach Jacob Reichard said. “We have to keep our composure better and at the end of the day that starts with me at the top and we cannot give up free yards to good football teams.”
Despite everything going wrong for the Vikings in the second half, they found themselves with a chance to potentially tie or win the game after stuffing Burkart on 4th-and-2 at their own 42-yard line with 38 seconds left. The Golden Hawks defense delivered with back-to-back sacks to end the game with the second being a sack fumble forced by Burkart.
“To end the game like that with forcing a sack off a fumble was such a thrill,” Burkart said. “Playing around guys like Caiden Charmant Emile Ayache on the line gives us a lot of opportunities to put together a consistent pass rush.”
The Golden Hawks finished with seven sacks with three coming from Charmant.
The loss will sting all winter for the Vikings, but they will seek to build momentum after a successful campaign with Reichard at the helm.
“We failed tonight but we did not fail this year,” Reichard said. “As long as we learn from this and grow from this as both a coaching staff and players this is not a failure. I am proud of this group.”
Bethlehem Catholic gets a rematch with top-seed Southern Lehigh next week for the District 11 4A Championship after suffering a 28-7 setback a year ago in the same round.
“We talked about our goal at the beginning of the year was play for the gold and we are in that position,” Bernard said. “I am excited to see what our kids can do next week.”
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Allentown Central Catholic | 10 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Bethlehem Catholic | 0 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 34 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | ACC | Baker 29, FG | 10:45 |
| 1 | ACC | Johnson, 10 run (Baker Kick) | 3:02 |
| 2 | BC | Brodie, 12 pass from Cay. Vassa (Kick Blocked) | 10:24 |
| 2 | BC | Salamoni, 3 run (A. Geiger Kick) | 4:20 |
| 2 | ACC | Torres-Johnson, 15 run (Baker Kick) | 3:24 |
| 2 | ACC | Cahill, 19 run (Baker Kick) | 0:25 |
| 3 | BC | Car. Vassa, 13 pass from Burkart (A. Geiger Kick) | 7:37 |
| 3 | BC | Cay. Vassa, 5 run (A. Geiger Kick) | 3:45 |
| 4 | BC | Burkart, 18 run (A. Geiger Kick) | 9:44 |
| 4 | ACC | Restino, 37 pass from Cahill (Baker Kick) | 1:12 |
Team statistics
| Allentown CC | Bethlehem Catholic | |
| First downs | 15 | 20 |
| Rushes-yards | 28-78 | 42-237 |
| Passing yards | 162 | 101 |
| Total yards | 240 | 338 |
| Passes COMP-ATT-INT | 16-29-0 | 10-19-3 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-2 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 6-27.5 | 3-38.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 10-110 | 9-85 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Allentown CC: Shoemaker 5-65, D. Johnson 9-37, Torres-Johnson 2-12, Cahill 12-(-36)
Bethlehem Catholic: Cay. Vassa 22-144, Burkart 9-64, Salamoni 8-25, Martinez 2-5, TEAM 1-(-1)
PASSING
Allentown CC: Cahill 16-29-0–162
Bethlehem Catholic: Cay. Vassa 6-11-2—71, Burkart 4-8-1–30
RECEIVING
Allentown CC: Martinez 6-54, Leak 3-27, MoDavis 2-21, Edmonson 2-20, Restino 1-37, Hosak 1-5, Shoemaker 1-(-2)
Bethlehem Catholic: Brodie 4-37, Burkart 3-40, Cay. Vassa 21-11, Car. Vassa 1-13
INTERCEPTIONS
Allentown CC: Leak, Restino, Edmonson
Bethlehem Catholic: None