Capers, East Stroudsburg South football rally in 2nd half to top Whitehall for district title

East Stroudsburg South High School's football team prides itself on playing its best football in the second half.

The heavily favored Cavaliers had to tap into that resolve to rally for a 22-17 victory over Whitehall in the District 11 Class 5A championship game Thursday night at Stroudsburg's Ross-Stulgaitis Stadium.

If top-seeded East Stroudsburg South (10-2) had continued to play like it did in the first half, the fourth-seeded Zephyrs (5-7) would've departed the Poconos with their third straight district crown.

Whitehall, which lost to the Cavaliers 38-7 in a non-league meeting on Sept. 7, led 10-3 at halftime thanks to a pair of time-consuming possessions that resulted in quarterback Tanner Dogmanits' 3-yard touchdown run and Cole Richards' 29-yard field goal.

"We knew they'd be a lot better team this time," East Stroudsburg South running back Charles Capers said. "We prepared for that and were ready for them. In the first half, we came out a little slow, but we've been a team that plays stronger in the second half."

Capers certainly heated up after intermission. The senior was held to 41 yards on six carries in the first half. The halftime respite gave Capers time to don his Superman cape. He returned to the field to rush for 197 yards on 21 carries. His 11-yard touchdown run tied the score at 10-10 two minutes into the third quarter, and his 4-yard scoring run provided the Cavaliers with a 22-10 lead and the decisive points with 6:37 left in the game.

"I think we might've underestimated them because of the first outcome," admitted E.S. South senior two-way lineman Kaden Zerfoss. "We knew what to fix. We came out and played with a lot of energy and relied on each other."

In between Capers' touchdowns, East Stroudsburg South's defense didn't deliver a knockout but launched a left hook that was worthy of a standing-eight count.

A 15-yard personal foul penalty on the Cavaliers that was added to a 10-yard run by Tanner Dogmanits helped the Zephyrs move from their 34 to E.S. South's 29. On second-and-7, Dogmanits tried to probe for running space on the right side. Suddenly, the ball popped loose. Sophomore linebacker Alex Perez scooped up the ball on the run and dashed 74 yards for the touchdown for a 16-10 lead with 3:16 left in the third quarter.

"(Jonathan) Adjin-Tettey came off the edge and made the hit to knock the ball loose," said the 6-2, 210-pound Perez. "I saw the ball on the ground, picked it up and got blocks from Nos. 6 (Matt Mercado) and 28 (Gianni Gonnella) to get me to the end zone."

The Cavaliers didn't have their first gold medals since 2021 locked up just yet. Whitehall went into hurry-up mode after Capers made it 22-10. Dogmanits completed three consecutive passes — 17 yards to James Hopkins on fourth-and-6 from Whitehall's 40, 28 yards to Nolan Schmeckenbecher to ESS's 15 and 13 yards to running back Brandon Bird. Bird, a senior, scored from the 2 with 5:05 remaining on his last carry as a Zephyr.

That's because Capers and company refused to relinquish the ball. He gained 51 yards on seven carries including three that kept the chains moving in a game-ending possession.

However, the biggest conversion probably was Ivan Laubach's 8-yard out completion to Xzavier Pusateri on third-and-7 in front of Whitehall's bench. With his six catches for 56 yards, Pusateri went over 2,000 yards for his career. He owns most of the school's receiving records, but that catch might've been the most important.

"There were a lot of big plays in the game, and I knew I had to make it because the game might come down to that play," said the 6-3, 180-pound Pusateri. "My quarterback (Laubach) had to put the ball in a tight window, but he's been very good and that's why I'm over 2,000 yards."

Pusateri said it was more than halftime adjustments and speeches that inspired the Cavaliers in the second half. He gave Whitehall an assist.

"I can't lie," Pusateri said with a big smile. "We were down 3-10 at halftime, and when we were going off the field they (Zephyrs) were waving bye-bye to us. That fired us up. Don't ever do that to us because we're a second-half team."

As a result, E.S. South will be playing next weekend – most likely on Saturday, Nov. 15 – against the District 12 champion. Frankford (10-1) and Roman Catholic (7-4) will meet Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia to decide who the Cavaliers will face.

"The seniors have waited three years for this," said Pusateri, noting the program's last district title came when the seniors were freshmen.

Whitehall, which used 14 plays to go 61 yards for its touchdown and 14 plays to set up the field goal, just couldn't find the same formula to convert third downs for most of the second half.

"We knew we had to run the ball to beat them," Whitehall coach Andy Marino said, "and the second half we didn't do as well with that."

Using the two games against East Stroudsburg South as a barometer, the Zephyrs came a long way since early September and have a good nucleus to carry into the 2025 season.

"Our kids never quit, and they always played with excitement," Marino said. "I'm proud of our seniors. We started 1-4 and things got better in the locker room and in practice. That's a sign of tough players."