Easton football survives early Allen surge, rolls to first win of season

Easton's William Day (23) scored two touchdowns against Allen on Friday.

If the Easton Area High School football team thought it would breeze past Allen after running the gauntlet of four discouraging losses to open the season in the rugged Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division, the Canaries had other ideas.

After all, Allen entered Friday night’s EPC cross-divisional contest at Andre Reed Field at J. Birney Crum Stadium with the same 0-4 record but against North Division foes, including a near-miss of a victory against Pocono Mountain East.

So when Allen stunned the heavily favored Red Rovers with Marcus Morales’ 77-yard touchdown run off the left side on the second play of the game, the Canaries quickly made a “Not in Our House” statement.

Moreover, coach Mel Thomas’ crew responded with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Lawson Vasquez to Jasius Allen to tie the game at 13-13 with 4:21 still remaining in the opening quarter after Easton had scored a pair of quick touchdowns.

Suddenly, everyone within earshot in west Allentown of the cavernous stadium was asking “Do you smell what the Canaries are cooking?”

Upset?

Not so fast.

The Red Rovers regrouped to score seven unanswered touchdowns to deliver the expected 62-21 mercy rule triumph thanks to a bevy of short field possessions aided by Allen fumbles and woes in the punting game.

“Our kids responded. They didn’t panic and handled it well,” Easton coach Jeff Braido said. “Credit to Allen, but it sure feels good to get that monkey off our back.”

Junior wide receiver Jordan Alston, senior running back JV Johnson and sophomore running back William Day each scored two touchdowns.

Alston dashed up the middle with the ensuing kickoff after Allen’s first touchdown of game. He also caught a short pass from sophomore quarterback Joseph Martinez and weaved his way along the right sideline for an 18-yard score for a 41-13 lead with 2:30 left in the first half.

“Jordan’s been doing great on kickoffs this year, and I told him he’s been so close to breaking one,” Braido said, “and he finally did tonight.”

Johnson shook off a fumble on his third carry of the game to score from the 16 to answer Allen’s long TD pass. Day ripped off runs of 41 and 15 to kickstart the three-play drive.

Johnson’s final run of the game was a 73-yard burst through the middle of the Canaries’ defense on the first play from scrimmage of the second half. He finished with 139 yards on seven carries to go with three catches for 31 yards.

Day’s touchdowns came on a 2-yard run for a 13-6 lead and then on a 12-yard pass from Martinez in the left flat for a 34-13 advantage with 3:53 to go in the opening half.

“I just wanted to lay it in softly to him because he has the talent to do the rest,” Martinez said.

Day added 87 yards on seven carries as part of the Red Rovers’ 255 yards on the ground. Reserve running backs Murad Carter and Davonte Staton rushed for touchdowns in the second half. Senior center/defensive lineman Anthony Embardino said the Rovers didn’t focus on anything specific coming off a 37-14 loss at home to Whitehall in which they were outscored 23-0 in the second half.

“We just needed to keep working hard to get better,” said Embardino, who recovered an Allen fumble late in the first half and helped stabilize Easton’s defense after its shaky start. “Tonight, we had to put our hearts into it, especially after they scored.”

Martinez enjoyed his best outing as a varsity quarterback since taking over for senior Dylan Reed. He completed 9 of 12 pass attempts for 121 yards.

JuJu Fears was Martinez’s favorite target, connecting with the senior for four completions for 60 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Fears reached above a Canary cornerback to make the grab and then high-stepped it backward over the final 10 yards into the end zone for a 27-13 lead.

“I know with JuJu I just have to put the ball up there and he’s going to go get it,” Martinez said.

“We put Joey in a couple of games ago, and last week he made a couple of bad throws,” Braido said. “Tonight, he managed the game well.”

The Red Rovers will play one more cross-divisional game next Friday at Pocono Mountain East before returning to complete the rest of their EPC South slate.

Braido said he expects running back/linebacker Aidan Hutchison to be back in the lineup for P.M. East. Hutchison suffered an injury on the first play of the season opener at Parkland.

The Red Rovers also had a number of other players unavailable against Allen, including two-way lineman and co-captain Sean Wilson.

“We had a number of starters out, but we had a lot of guys step up tonight,” Braido said. ‘We played a lot of young guys.”

Sophomore Jackson Fuhrer replaced Wilson at left tackle; freshman Kurtis Crossman started at tight end; and senior offensive tackle Odin Ferency played extra snaps at nose tackle.

Allen’s cross-division road doesn’t get any easier. The Canaries will host Freedom next Friday. Still, they have something positive to build on from Friday night’s loss, especially after springing the two long scoring plays on the Red Rovers.

“That’s something that’s not happened around here in a long time,” Thomas said. “For the most part the kids have kept their heads up and focused on getting better. We’re young and getting experience. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in the second half of the season.”

Alexander Georges pounced on a fumbled Allen shotgun snap to set up Carter’s third-quarter touchdown. Mason Fleming and Dylan Reed recovered fumbles on consecutive Canary kickoff returns later in the quarter.

Corky Blake can be reached at sports@lehighvalleylive.com.

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