DISTRICT 11 NOTES (week 9):
RUNNINGBACKS:
Leshawn Johnson of Freedom rushed for 244 yards and 5 td’s in their win over Easton. The 5 td’s tie the school record that’s been done five other times by 4 different players. He joins Dave Walters (1999), Darius Webb (2009 -twice), Ed Elliot (2010), and Aaron Beete (2024). Jay Santos of Emmaus had his 2nd straight 200-yard game in week 9 after missing the 1st 4 games of the season. Santos rushed for 236 yards and 4 td’s in their win over Dieruff. Colton Reber of Schuylkill Haven grounded out his 3rd-300 yard plus game this season when he rushed for 341 yards and 3 td’s in their win over Minersville. Reber leads the District with 1,827 yards and 28 td’s. He’s scored 99 career td’s so far. Reber still holds down the number 8 spot on the District all-time list for rushing yards (6,232). Tycen Norman of Parkland had his first 200-yard game when he rushed for 272 yards and 2 td’s vs Whitehall. Fletcher Thompson of Williams Valley rushed for 203 yards and 3 td’s in their win over Shenandoah Valley. Thompson’s career numbers have him with 4,969 yards (17th highest all-time) and 66 td’s (tied for 24th). Other players scoring 66 career td’s are Tosh Riddick (Dieruff 1995-97), Buddy Fegley (Sch. Haven 1996-98), Eddie Scipio (Beca 1998-01), William Casella (Sch. Haven 2011-14), and Austyn Borre (Pl. Valley 2012-15). Going over 1,000 yards for the season in week 9 were Jeziah Gregory of Whitehall (1,071) and Lukas Croizier of Lehighton (1,031). Joining the chart with 1,000 career yards is Evan Garrett of PM East with his 1,014 career yards. Joziah Martinez of Catasauqua scored 4 td’s in their win over Salisbury. Christian Stiehler of PM West broke the school record for scoring touchdowns. Stiehler, just a junior, has 35 career td’s, one more then the 34 td’s that Franklyn Quiteh had from 2007-08.
QUARTERBACKS:
Axel Burkart of Bethlehem Catholic threw for 466 yards and 4 td’s in their win over Liberty. The yardage betters his 416 yards he threw earlier in the season but still falls short of the school record 479 yards Ryan Roeder threw vs Central Catholic in 1996. In his last 3 games he’s thrown for 1,251 yards and 10 td’s. Burkart leads the District with 2,540 yards. Cooper Madson of Nazareth has the second highest total (2,327 yards) after throwing for 298 yards and 2 td’s in their win over Northampton. Cohen Kirby of Blue Mountain is now the all-time career passing yardage leader at the school. He currently has 3,707 yards eclipsing his dad’s 3,609 yards he threw for from 1997-99. Colton Sams threw for 216 yards and a 1 td pass in their win over Northwestern. He’s thrown 105 td passes in his career and is now within 1 of the all-time District 11 record 106 td passes that Brendan Nosovitch of Central Catholic threw from 2008-11. Sams also went over 2,000 yards passing (2,048) on the season for the 3rd year in a row. Tommy Murphy of Notre Dame threw for 245 yards and 4 td’s in their win over Northern Lehigh. He went over 2,000 yards on the season (2,180) and has a District leading 32 td passes. Tanner Dogmantis of Whitehall threw for 327 yards and 3 td’s in their win over Parkland and moved up 8 more spots from 35th on the all-time District list to 27th. He moved ahead of Chris Palubinsky of Shenandoah Valley (5,391 from 2009-12), Cazzie Kosciolek of Panther Valley (5,425 from 1989-92), Danny Darno of Notre Dame (5,497 from 2020-23), Julian Spigner of Bethlehem Catholic (5,538 from 2013-15), Daniel Harding of Nazareth (5,541 from 2009-11), Phil Stambaugh of Pius X (5,595 from 1992-95), Brent Andrew of Marian Catholic (5,614 from 1994-97), and Cole Lazorick of Jim Thorpe (5,687 from 2022-25). Ethan Bench of Shenandoah Valley threw for 288 yards and 3 td’s vs Williams Valley to up his season totals to 1,872 yards and 25 td passes. The td passes are a school record that he actually broke in week 7 when he had 20 total. The forementioned Palubinsky held the old record when he threw 19 td passes in 2012. Jackson Mitchell of Stroudsburg threw for 246 yards and 3 td’s in their win over ES North. Matthew Piparato of Wilson went 27 of 41 for 354 yards and 3 td’s in their loss to Bangor. Those totals are all school records for a freshman, and the 27 completions also tie DJ Lenehan’s school record that he set in the State Championship game vs South Park in 2005. Zahviay McGurn of Easton threw for 239 yards and 2 td’s vs Freedom and Greyson Fuller of ES South threw for 211 yards and 3 td’s vs Stroudsburg. CeeJay Serfas of PM East threw 4 td passes in week 9 vs ES North. Garrett Smoyer of Northern Lehigh (1,030), and Tyler Hoherchak of Jim Thorpe (1,131) each went over 1,000 yards passing for the season, making that 20 qb’s over 1,000 yards.
RECEIVERS:
We had 2 players catch 13 passes each in week 9. Carter Vassa of Bethlehem Catholic caught 13 passes for 249 yards and 2 td’s in their win over Liberty. The 13 catches is a new school record breaking his own record of 12 that he had vs Nazareth in 2025. In that same game in 2025, he set the reception yardage record with 259 yards. Vassa has 52 receptions this year and went over 1,000 yards receiving (1,187 yards) on the season. That currently ties him for the school record with John Dieser, who had 1,187 yards in 2000. The only other Golden Hawk to net 1,000 yards receiving in a season was Frank Trovato in 2002 (1,019 yards). Vassa’s career totals have him catching 187 passes for 3,436 yards and 36 td receptions. He also had a rushing td in week 9 pushing his overall career td total to 42 placing him in the “40 td” club. The 187 career catches tie him with two Nazareth players for 3rd place all-time in the District. Jahan Dotson caught 187 passes from 2014-17, and Mason Kuehner caught 187 from 2021-23. He’s locked into 2nd place all-time in the District for career yardage. Kevin Gulyas of Central Catholic is currently 765 yards ahead of Vassa with his District record 4,201 yards that he totaled from 2008-11. Vassa’s 36 td receptions tie him with Paryss Marshall of Catasauqua for 4th place all-time in the District. Marshall caught 36 td passes from 2011-13. Jayden Rapoli of Wilson caught 13 passes for 212 yards vs Bangor in week 9. The 13 catches tie the school record held by Zach Bogoly, who caught 13 passes vs Saucon Valley in 2012 also in week 9. Bogoly broke my record of 12 that I had vs Bangor in 1981, and he also caught 12 in his last game of his career vs Notre Dame in week 10. Adding Bogoly’s week 8 totals with weeks 9 and 10, he caught 33 passes for 652 yards and 7 td’s in a 3-game span. Gulyas had a 3-game span in which he caught 39 passes for 563 yards and 9 td’s. Vassa has a chance in week 10 to join Gulyas and Bogoly. District leading Shay Strencosky of Pottsville caught 1 td pass in their win over North Schuylkill to reach 13 for the season. Drew Boyd of Notre Dame is tied with Strencosky with 13 td catches after having his 3rd 3-td game of the season vs Northern Lehigh. Boyd also joined the “100 catch” club in week 9 and has 101 catches for his career. Going over 2,000 yards receiving in week 9 was Luke DePietro of Nazareth. The junior has caught 124 passes for 2,037 yards and 19 td’s so far in his career. Joshua Ivers-Green of Stroudsburg caught 8 passes for a school record 196 yards and 3 td’s vs ES South. TJ Backer held the old record when he had 179 yards receiving vs ES North in 2014. Backer still holds the school record of 4 td receptions in a game which he had in that game vs ESN. Otto Young of Southern Lehigh leads the District with 57 receptions. DePietro is 3 behind Young with 54 receptions. Vassa and Henry Shultz of Whitehall are next with 52 catches each. Chase Guers of Blue Mountain broke his older brother Gaige’s single season reception yardage record in week 8. Gaige set the record in 2024 with his 649 yards. Chase had 663 yards after week 8 and now has 739 yards after week 9. We had 8 players join the chart in week 9. They are Bethlehem Catholic teammates Tyre Lewis (656) and Armando Thom (558), Greg Tillman of Liberty via CC (649), Jayden Rapoli of Wilson (643), Joey Kratz of Pen Argyl (535), Lance Zuercher of Nazareth (530), Taylor Rohn of Saucon Valley (500), and Carl Lingham of Lehighton (500). Five players reached 1,000 yards receiving for their career in week 9. They are Gene Sinkus of Shenandoah Valley (1,058), Sean McPeek of Easton (1,033), Kole Luckenbill of Blue Mountain (1,030), Blake Nassry of Parkland (1,027), and Joshua Ivers-Green of Stroudsburg (1,018).
KICKERS:
2025 single-game highs: ( ) is the week the player accomplished the stat
Single Game Touchdowns (4)
6 (2) Terrence McDowell (Tamaqua) *Modern Day School Record*
6 (8), 5 (5) Colton Reber (Schuylkill Haven)
6 (8) Adam Fritts (Southern Lehigh) *Ties School Record*
5 (1) Brock Holmes (North Schuylkill) *Ties School Record*
5 (4) Parker Hatter (Tri-Valley)
5 (6), 4 (5) Chase Sukanick (Northwestern) *Ties School Record*
5 (9) Lashawn Johnson (Freedom)
4 (2) Evan Garrett (PM East)
4 (3) Quintin Rucker (Mahanoy Area)
4 (4), 4 (5) Fletcher Thompson (Williams Valley)
4 (5) Christian Stiehler (PM West)
4 (5), 4 (8) Tycen Norman (Parkland)
4 (6) Joel Nunez (Shenandoah Valley)
4 (6) Jeziah Gregory (Whitehall)
4 (6) Otto Young (Southern Lehigh)
4 (7), 4 (9) Joziah Martinez (Catasauqua)
4 (8) Chris Ward (Pleasant Valley)
4 (8) Shay Strencosky (Pottsville)
4 (9) Javier Santos (Emmaus)
Single Game Rushing Yardage (200)
341 (9), 324 (8), 312 (1), 283 (7) Colton Reber (Schuylkill Haven)
337 (2) Terrence McDowell (Tamaqua)
335 (6) Chase Sukanick (Northwestern)
326 (3), 275 (5), 268 (4) Logan Troup (Pine Grove)
291 (4), 278 (5), 226 (7), 203 (9) Fletcher Thompson (Williams Valley)
272 (9) Tycen Norman (Parkland)
256 (4) Parker Hatter (Tri-Valley)
255 (2) TJ Lawrence (Parkland)
250 (2), 203 (5) Tyler Price (Marian Catholic)
244 (9) Lashawn Johnson (Freedom)
241 (1) Christian Stiehler (PM West)
236 (9), 200 (8) Javier Santos (Emmaus)
233 (3) Quinton Rucker (Mahanoy Area)
226 (2) Evan Garrett (PM East)
212 (5) Avery Walker (ES South)
212 (5) Chase Sukanick (Northwestern)
210 (1) Chase Kessler (Northampton)
209 (3) Jack MoDavis (Southern Lehigh)
202 (8) Chris Ward (Pleasant Valley)
201 (8) Jeziah Gregory (Whitehall)
200 (8) Ace Schickram (Tamaqua)
Single Game Passing Yardage (200)
466 (9), 419 (7), 366 (8), 279 (1), 255 (3), 240 (2) Axel Burkart (Bethlehem Catholic)
386 (4), 321 (1), 297 (3), 264 (6), 245 (9), 236 (7) Thomas Murphy (Notre Dame)
363 (1), 304 (2), 253 (6), 233 (7), 216 (9) Colton Sams (Southern Lehigh)
355 (5), 288 (9), 248 (2), 245 (7), 216 (6) Ethan Bench (Shenandoah Valley)
354 (9) Matthew Piparato (Wilson)
337 (6), 334 (8), 306 (7), 264 (4), 246 (2), 225 (3), 215 (1) Cooper Madson (Nazareth)
327 (9), 284 (4), 218 (3) Tanner Dogmantis (Whitehall)
310 (2), 236 (8), 234 (3) Cohen Kirby (Blue Mountain)
303 (8), 212 (1), 211 (9), 207 (7) Greyson Fuller (ES South)
297 (7), 204 (8) CeeJay Serfass (PM East)
284 (4), 255 (1), 236 (8) Gregory Tirpak (Marian Catholic)
284 (7), 239 (9) Zahviay McGurn (Easton)
279 (1) Trey Snyder (Northwestern)
277 (7) Alsaiah Gross (Liberty)
271 (6), 206 (1) T.K. Gursky (Palmerton)
262 (2), 246 (9), 244 (1), 220 (3) Jackson Mitchell (Stroudsburg)
254 (6) Jake Lucykanish (Lehighton)
251 (7) Curtis Sipler (PM West)
242 (2) Iovani Lopez (Salisbury)
237 (1) Michael Stofanak (Freedom)
229 (3) Julian Pagan (Allen)
222 (2) Bradyn Diehl (Schuylkill Haven)
217 (5) Dominic DiCiccio (PM West)
213 (8) Tommy Welsh (Pottsville)
212 (4) Janiel Pena (Central Catholic)
205 (6), 200 (8) Tyler Hoherchak (Jim Thorpe)
Single Game TD Passes (4)
7 (4), 6 (3), 5 (6), 4 (9) Thomas Murphy (Notre Dame) *Ties School Record*
6 (5), 4 (2) Ethan Bench (Shenandoah Valley) *Ties School Record*
6 (6), 4 (1), 4 (2), 2 (7) Colton Sams (Southern Lehigh) *School Record*
6 (6), 5 (2) TJ Gursky (Palmerton) *Ties School Record*
5 (2), 5 (6), 4 (7) Cooper Madson (Nazareth)
5 (6), 4 (2) Jack Lucykanish (Lehighton) *Ties School Record*
5 (7), 4 (2), 4 (9) Axel Burkart (Bethlehem Catholic)
5 (8) Greyson Fuller (ES South)
4 (1), 4 (9) CeeJay Serfass (PM East)
4 (1) Julian Pagan (Allen)
4 (2) Iovoni Lopez (Salisbury)
4 (3) Trey Snyder (Northwestern)
4 (4) Gregory Tirpak (Marian Catholic) *Ties School Record*
4 (7), 4 (8) Tommy Welsh (Pottsville)
Single Game Receptions (10)
13 (9), 11 (3) Carter Vassa (Bethlehem Catholic) *School Record*
13 (9) Jayden Rapoli (Wilson) *Ties School Record*
12 (8) Luke DePietro (Nazareth)
10 (7) Gene Sinkus (Shenandoah Valley)
Single Game Reception Yardage (140)
249 (9), 242 (8), 202 (1), 153 (3) Carter Vassa (Bethlehem Catholic)
212 (9) Jayden Rapoli (Wilson)
211 (6) Luke DePietro (Nazareth)
200 (2) Kole Luckenbill (Blue Mountain) *School Record*
196 (9) Joshua Ivers-Green (Stroudsburg) *School Record*
193 (1) Davyan Moore (Freedom)
176 (5) Todd Seiger (Shenandoah Valley)
169 (7) Tyre Lewis (Bethlehem Catholic)
165 (4), 147 (1) Rocco Griguoli (Marian Catholic)
163 (7) Greg Tillman (Liberty)
162 (7), 159 (8) Matthew Leluga (Nazareth)
158 (5) Chase McArdle (Panther Valley)
155 (3) Chase Guers (Blue Mountain)
153 (1) Brady Zimmerman (Northwestern)
148 (4) Zyaire Davis (Liberty)
143 (2) Jadiel Gonzalez (Salisbury)
142 (6) Carl Lingham (Lehighton)
Single Game Reception TD’s (3)
4 (6) Otto Young (Southern Lehigh) *Ties School Record*
4 (8), 3 (6) Shay Strencosky (Pottsville) *Ties School Record*
3 (2) Luke DePietro (Nazareth)
3 (2) Jayden Rapoli (Wilson) *Ties School Record*
3 (3) Jonathan Striba (Notre Dame)
3 (4), 3 (6), 3 (9) Drew Boyd (Notre Dame)
3 (5) David Burrous (Shenandoah Valley)
3 (6) Carl Lingham (Lehighton)
Field Goals (40 yards)
52 (2) Jordan Bowers (Minersville) *School Record*
48 (2) Bryson Baker (Central Catholic)
46 (8) Wes Urban (North Schuylkill)
45 (3) Lucas Angst (PM East)
43 (2), 40 (8) Andrea Giroudon (Parkland)
41 (3) Nate Hillard (Tri-Valley)
District 11 Season Leaders
Rushing (1,000)
1827 Colton Reber (Schuylkill Haven)
1668 Fletcher Thompson (Williams Valley)
1633 Logan Troup (Pine Grove)
1399 Tyler Price (Marian Catholic)
1386 Chase Kessler (Northampton)
1288 Lashawn Johnson (Freedom)
1195 Chase Sukanick (Northwestern)
1191 Chris Ward (Pleasant Valley)
1100 Christian Stiehler (PM West)
1071 Jeziah Gregory (Whitehall)
1031 Lukas Croizier (Lehighton)
Touchdowns (16)
28 Colton Reber (Schuylkill Haven)
21 Tyler Price (Marian Catholic)
19 Chase Sukanick (Northwestern)
19 Chris Ward (Pleasant Valley)
18 Fletcher Thompson (Williams Valley)
18 Lashawn Johnson (Freedom)
17 Will Bacolo (Nazareth)
17 Lukas Croizier (Lehighton)
16 Jeziah Gregory (Whitehall)
16 Christian Stiehler (PM West)
16 Logan Troup (Pine Grove)
15 Shay Strencosky (Pottsville)
Passing Yards (1,000)
2540 Axel Burkart (Bethlehem Catholic)
2327 Cooper Madson (Nazareth)
2180 Tommy Murphy (Notre Dame)
2048 Colton Sams (Southern Lehigh)
1872 Ethan Bench (Shenandoah Valley)
1839 Tanner Dogmantis (Whitehall)
1725 Cohen Kirby (Blue Mountain)
1595 Jackson Mitchell (Stroudsburg)
1559 Greyson Fuller (ES South)
1511 Gregory Tirpak (Marian Catholic)
1494 Zahviay McGurn (Easton)
1481 CeeJay Serfass (PM East)
1474 Alsaiah Gross (Liberty)
1310 Trey Snyder (Northwestern)
1279 Lincoln Rehrig (Bangor)
1237 Finn Coen (Parkland)
1192 TK Gursky (Palmerton)
1116 Julian Pagan (Allen)
1101 Tyler Hoherchak (Jim Thorpe)
1030 Garrett Smoyer (Northern Lehigh)
Touchdown Passes (18)
32 Tommy Murphy (Notre Dame)
26 Colton Sams (Southern Lehigh)
25 Cooper Madson (Nazareth)
25 Ethan Bench (Shenandoah Valley) *School Record*
24 Axel Burkart (Bethlehem Catholic)
21 TK Gursky (Palmerton)
21 Cohen Kirby (Blue Mountain) *Ties School Record*
Receptions (33)
57 Otto Young (Southern Lehigh)
54 Luke DePietro (Nazareth)
52 Henry Shultz (Whitehall)
52 Carter Vassa (Bethlehem Catholic)
43 Prince Albino (Pocono Mountain East)
39 Matthew Leluga (Nazareth)
39 Zyaire Davis (Liberty)
38 Chase Guers (Blue Mountain)
38 Jaylen Walker (Allen)
38 Carl Lingham (Lehighton)
35 Rocco Griguoli (Marian Catholic)
35 Sean McPeek (Easton)
35 Gene Sinkus (Shenandoah Valley)
35 Joshua Ivers-Green (Stroudsburg)
34 Brady Zimmerman (Northwestern)
Reception Yardage (575)
1187 Carter Vassa (Bethlehem Catholic) *Ties School Record*
921 Luke DePietro (Nazareth)
895 Henry Shultz (Whitehall)
831 Joshua Ivers-Green (Stroudsburg)
739 Chase Guers (Blue Mountain) *School Record*
718 Matthew Leluga (Nazareth)
677 Rocco Griguoli (Marian Catholic)
668 Zyaire Davis (Liberty)
652 Kole Luckenbill (Blue Mountain)
648 Otto Young (Southern Lehigh)
638 Gene Sinkus (Shenandoah Valley)
593 Sean McPeek (Easton)
580 Prince Albino (PM East)
Reception Touchdowns (9)
13 Shay Strencosky (Pottsville)
13 Drew Boyd (Notre Dame)
12 Carter Vassa (Bethlehem Catholic)
11 Chase Guers (Blue Mountain) *School Record*
10 David Burrous (Shenandoah Valley)
9 Luke Depietro (Nazareth)
9 Henry Shultz (Whitehall)
9 Matthew Leluga (Nazareth)
9 Amin Fideen (Easton)
9 Joshua Ivers-Green (Stroudsburg)
9 Gene Sinkus (Shenandoah Valley)
District 11 longest field goals: (nothing new )
54 yards Carson Long (North Schuylkill) vs Mount Carmel in 1972 (lost 21-3)
53 yards Alexander Sahaydak (Liberty) vs Central Catholic in 2019 (lost 14-6)
52 yards Brian Happel (Pius X) vs Bangor in 1977 (won 16-12)
52 yards Tom Cochran (Bethlehem Catholic) vs Parkland in 1989 (won 3-0)
52 yards Alexander Sahaydak (Liberty) vs Southern Lehigh in 2020 (lost 27-23)
52 yards Jordan Bowers (Minersville) vs Jim Thorpe in 2026 (lost 42-10)
51 yards Carson Long (North Schuylkill) vs Mahanoy Area in 1971 (won 23-20)
51 yards Luke Meyers (Central Catholic) vs Emmaus in 2023 (won 27-24)
51 yards Austin Martellucci (Easton) vs Nazareth in 2021 (lost 16-9)
51 yards Gavin Mentzer (North Schuylkill) vs Lehighton in 2024 (won 58-21)
50 yards Brian Menecola (Pius X) vs ??? In 1994
50 yards Nate Hillard (Tri-Valley) vs Marian Catholic in 2025 (won 3-0)
49 yards Tom Cochran (Bethlehem Catholic) vs Phillipsburg in 1990 (won 17-6)
49 yards Mike Wascura (Emmaus) vs Bethlehem Catholic in 1999 (lost 33-3)
49 yards Luke Meyers (Central Catholic) vs Liberty in 2023 (won 23-20)
49 yards Gavin Mentzer (North Schuylkill) vs Mt. Carmel in 2024 (won 37-30)
49 yards Gabriel Ferguson (Stroudsburg) vs Liberty in 2025 (lost 49-17)
48 yards Devin Bartholomew (Parkland) vs Bethlehem Catholic in 2018 (won 24-16)
48 yards Bryson Baker (Central Catholic) vs Bethlehem Catholic (lost 35-24)
47 yards Todd Samet (ES South) vs Stroudsburg in 1972 (won 9-0)
47 yards Rob Boothroyd (Tri-Valley) vs Pine Grove in 1977 (won 10-0)
47 yards John Mikovich (Panther Valley) vs Mount Carmel in 1978
47 yards Bob Bleiler (Allen) vs Whitehall in 1981 (lost 30-3)
47 yards Jim Puschak (Bethlehem Catholic) vs Upper Perkiomen in 1983 (won 16-7)
47 yards Mark Lilly (Northampton) vs Dieruff in 1993 (won 24-0)
47 yards Andy Ryzewski (Liberty) vs Pleasant Valley in 1994 (won 31-14)
47 yards Mike Zin (Nazareth) vs Easton in 1998 (won 32-29)
47 yards Matt Mathews (Easton) vs Whitehall in 2000 (lost 23-14)
47 yards Carson Landis (Emmaus) vs Bethlehem Catholic in 2017 (won 34-25)
47 yards Hunter Miller (Northwestern) vs Southern Lehigh in 2017 (lost 28-21)
47 yards Oliver Stewart (Salisbury) vs Notre Dame in 2017 (lost 54-10)
47 yards Mike Bologa (Marian Catholic) vs Shenandoah Valley in 2020 (won 24-7)
