RECAP >> Anytime you play your archrival, no matter what the sport, there’s a lot on the line.
Emmaus head coach Harold Fairclough and his players knew what was at stake on Friday night when they stepped foot on the turf at East Penn School District Stadium against that other school that sits six miles to the north on the other end of Cedar Crest Boulevard.
For one, bragging rights.
For another, Senior Night.
And a third, the top seed in districts.
Playing in their final regular-season home game in front of a near-capacity crowd that included their classmates, parents and fans, the 2022 version of Emmaus football accomplished all of those things in a satisfying 40-25 win over Parkland in Week 10.
The victory gave Emmaus back the ‘Battle of Cedar Crest Cup’ which they proudly hoisted high into the air following the game and it also put an exclamation point on a tremendous 9-1 regular-season matching the 2018 squad.
More importantly, the win locked up the No.1 overall seed for the upcoming District 2/4/11 subregional playoffs where the Hornets have the possibility to host two playoff games. First, they’ll need to get by a 6-4 Wilkes-Barre squad, the No. 8 seed, which will make its first-ever trip to Emmaus this Friday at 7 p.m. in the quartefinals.
Of course a lot of the talk leading up to the start of the playoffs will be can this Emmaus team bring home the school’s first-ever District XI championship? Judging by their body of work through 10 games, there’s every reason to believe that the Hornets are one of the favorites, along with Nazareth, Freedom, Northampton and yes, Parkland.
For now, however, Emmaus can celebrate their second straight win over the Trojans and perfect 5-0 record at home.
Senior Dylan Darville, one of 22 seniors honored before the game, continued to give opposing defenses fits as he had a pair of 65-yard touchdowns – one receiving and another on a pick-6 – and classmate Jake Fotta accounted for three scores as Emmaus used a big second quarter to build a 30-7 halftime lead and then held off a late Parkland rally.
The Trojans, who were riding a four-game win streak, outscored the Hornets 18-3 in the third quarter to get within one score (30-22) but that would be the closest they would get the rest of the night as the stout Emmaus ‘D’ came up with a big stop on fouth down. Fotta then sealed the victory with a little over two minutes remaining in the game with his ninth rushing TD of the season on a nifty 43-yard run.
Both Darville and Fotta set school records and milestones with their performances.
Darville finished the night with a 131 yards on just six receptions and now holds the school record for yards in a single season (975 – the old record 890 by Matt Salvaterra 1998) and receptions (51 – Dave Treat 48 in ’89). He also had two interceptions in the game.
Fotta, despite throwing for just 141 yards in the game, went over the 3,000 yard passing mark in his career with his 65-yard scoring strike to Darville to open up the scoring in the first quarter. He also rushed for a career-high 90 yards on just nine carries.
Both players received recognition following the game as Darville was named his team’s MVP on defense while Fotta got the award on offense. The awards were sponsored by the Western Lehigh Exchange Club.
Senior running back Tylik Jarvis had his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and also scored his seventh TD of the season on a 1-yard run that gave Emmaus a 30-7 lead at the half.
Defensively, senior Aidan Garrett led Emmaus with eight tackles. Junior Jasiyah Banks and Ryan DeJohn each had five tackles, while junior John Wassel had four stops and classmate Mario Landino also had four tackles and two sacks. The 25 points allowed was the most the Hornets had given up this season.
Parkland, which dropped to 6-4 on the season, was led by junior quarterback Luke Spang who threw for a season-high 305 yards and three touchdowns to go along with two interceptions. Classmate Trey Tremba also had a big game for the Trojans with 150 total yards (55 rushing/95 receiving) while senior Jack Harrison had his third 100+ receiving yard game of the season — 115 yards on just five receptions.
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Pa – 7-0-18-0 – 25
Em – 7-23-3-7 – 40
Scoring:
Em – Dylan Darville 65 yard pass from Jake Fotta (Owen Garcia PAT)
Pa – Jack Harrison 17 yard pass from Luke Spang (Griffin Mitstifer PAT)
Em – Fotta 2 yard run (Garcia PAT)
Em – Darville 65 yard INT (Garcia PAT)
Em – Safety snap out of end zone on punt
Em – Tylik Jarvis 1 yard run (Garcia PAT)
Pa – Nakhi Bullock 61 yard pass from Spang (Mitstifer PAT)
Em – Owen Garcia FG 38 yards
Pa – Trey Tremba 16 yard pass from Spang (Two-point conv)
Pa – Mitstifer FG 42 yards
Em – Fotta 43 yard run (Garcia PAT)
Stats (Emmaus)
Rush – Tylik Jarvis 18-100, TD; Jake Fotta 9-90-2, Dylan Darville 1-3, Josiah Williams 2-11
Pass – Jake Fotta 8-19, 141, TD; Dylan Darville 1-1, 28
Rec – Dylan Darville 6-131, TD; Rafael Terrero 2-10, Chase Fotta 1-28
PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Nathan Lewis)
