Palisades first-year head coach Bobby Smith thought his team had a fairly secure hold of its District 11 Class 2A semifinal playoff game against Catasauqua with a 14-0 halftime lead in front of the Pirates’ faithful at Walter T. Rohrer Stadium Saturday night.
Most believed it wouldn’t be the same type of finish that happened roughly two weeks earlier between the two teams in a Palisades’ 20-17 overtime victory. Ironically, Catasauqua had a 14-0 lead in that game.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, Catasauqua gained its revenge.
Catasauqua’s Christian Fye kicked a 36-yard field goal in the closing seconds to cap a furious comeback and give the visiting Rough Riders a 17-14 victory.
The victory lifted Catasauqua into the district title game, and the defeat ended Palisades’ season with an overall 8-3 record.
“It’s tough to end that way,” said Smith. “I know their coach, and I’m sure he fired them up. They came out that way in the second half.
“I called the defense and we didn’t let them score (a touchdown) at the end. We felt confident with that length of a field goal, and thought we would go to overtime.
“We may have taken things a little too lightly with a 14-0 lead. We really didn’t change anything and stuck with our game plan. We had the momentum, but they shut us down.”
However, the Pirates proved to be one of the Lehigh Valley’s best-kept secrets, as they totally reversed their fate from last year’s 2-8 season. They won the Colonial/Schuylkill League White Division.
Palisades will lose nine starting seniors including quarterback Kai Stiansen and running back Steven Lilly. Stiansen threw for 795 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions as well as running for 436 yards with 10 touchdowns. Lilly ran for a team-high 1,222 yards with 19 touchdowns Sophomore John Haubert added 463 yards. Overall, the Pirates ran for 2,613 yards as a team.
Junior Kyle Kirsch led the team with 16 receptions for 172 yards, and junior Dan Haubert led the team with 56 tackles.
“We will definitely be hit with the loss of some great seniors,” said Smith. “They came in this year, and really took charge. They gave us the leadership we needed.
“But we have three starters back on the offensive line, and also guys like Kyle Kirsch, Danny Haubert and John Haubert who will help us on both sides of the ball. We have a couple of young quarterbacks who will battle for the job.”
Smith also likes to see the continuing maturation of 15 freshmen who were on the roster this season, and also the expected influx of 15 incoming freshmen next fall.
“That’s 30 young players for us right there,” he said. “When you’re a small school like we are, numbers are always an issue. But our middle school program is strong, and they won five of their nine games this past season.”
For the always energetic and upbeat Smith, the Pirates’ offseason – working toward their 2023 campaign – can’t come sooner.
“It’s nice to see that we have a good number of kids coming back and coming into the program,” he stressed. “We’ll start our offseason lifting program soon.
“We’re all ready to get back at it.”
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