For one half of football on Friday night at East Penn School District Stadium, Emmaus went toe-to-toe with Phillipsburg.
Trailing just 7-0 at the break – similar to the same margin a week ago at Neshaminy – the Hornets defense limited a Stateliner offense that had put up 28 points against pre-season favorite Parkland last week – to just one touchdown and finding themselves very much in a game that statistically they had been dominated.
The second half, however, Phillipsburg finally awoken.
Scoring on all three of their possessions after halftime, the Stateliners pulled away and spoiled Emmaus’ home opener with a 24-10 win.
Phillipsburg scored 17 points in the second half and rushed for over 200 yards (214) in the game as they picked up their second win against an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference foe.
Meanwhile, for Emmaus, it’s their second straight 0-2 start to a season. In just eight quarters, the Hornets offense has managed just three touchdowns.
Phillipsburg junior quarterback Dom Bracco attempted just eight passes in the game, but two of those went for touchdowns in the second half — one to Amir Heath covering 29 yards and the other 26 yards to David Pacewicz – as the Stateliners opened up a 21-3 lead.
Emmaus’ lone score of the night came early in the fourth quarter as junior quarterback Kellen Hafner threw his first career varsity touchdown pass to classmate Ty Laird covering 76 yards. Hafner finished the night 12 of 23 for a career-best 169 yards and hooked up with eight different receivers.
The Hornets were held to just 30 yards rushing in the game. Emmaus was also 0-for-8 on third down conversions, while Phillipsburg was 5-for-11 (45 percent).
Defensively, junior Nik Castro led Emmaus with team-high eight tackles. Senior Mason Lenig was next with six while classmates Mason Weber, Will Daves and Angel Cardona each had five.
Emmaus will return to action Friday at 7 p.m. as they host Scranton in a matchup of winless teams. There will also be a special ceremony at halftime honoring the 2016-17 championship team.
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Pb – 0-7-7-10- 24
Em – 0-0-0-10 – 10
Scoring:
Pb – Xavier Campbell-Graham 1 yard run (Hunter Garrison PAT)
PB – Amir Heath 29-yard pass from Dom Bracco (Garrison PAT)
Em – George Marmaros FG 27 yards
PB – David Pacewicz 26 pass from Dom Bracco (Garrison PAT)
Em – Ty Laird 76-yard pass from Kellen Hafner (Marmaros PAT)
PB – Garrison FG 27 yards
Individual stats – Emmaus
Rushing – Anthony Attar 12-50, Bermudez 1 (-1), J. Pletz 2 (-6), Kellen Hafner 1 (-13)
Passing – Kellen Hafner 12-23, 169 yards, TD, Int
Receiving – Anthony Attar 3-16, Jacquez Pletz 1-4, Jamaad Sanders 2-50, Legend Vasquez 2-12, Ty Laird 1-76, TD; Nik Castro 1-7, Evan De La Rosa 1-4, Manolo Bermudez 1-0
PHOTO GALLERY – Courtesy of Tom Ashleman
