Coming off of its first win of the season, an emotional 31-21 come-from-behind victory over Bethlehem Catholic last week, one might have thought that perhaps Emmaus would have had a letdown in its non-league matchup against Reading on Friday night at home at East Penn School District Stadium.
Not a chance.
With five different players scoring touchdowns, the Hornets offense scored points on six of its first eight possessions, while the defense once again stood tall as Emmaus entertained the youth players on East Penn Emmaus Midget Football Association Night with an easy 38-7 victory over the Red Knights.
The score may not have been the same margin as the last time Reading came to Emmaus (a 56-13 loss in 2015), but it did have a similar feel as the Hornets were able to enforce the mercy rule with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
It was the second straight victory for head coach Harold Fairclough’s team who improved to 2-1 on the season.
Sophomore running back Jay Santos had a big night on the ground for Emmaus rushing for a career-high 86 yards on just five carries and his first career touchdown.
Senior Reilly Bechtel, the team’s leading rusher, was next with 71 yards and a 9-yard touchdown run, while classmate Neo Michel added a 15-yard TD scamper.
Jerek Cooper, the Hornets junior quarterback, only completed four passes on the night, but did have his second straight game throwing two touchdown passes — one a 15-yard scoring strike to classmate Kai Jefferson-Rushing and the other to senior Daniel Duggan covering 32 yards.
Defensively, Emmaus held Reading to just 117 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers. It was the first time in three games that an opponent has scored against the Hornets defense in the second half.
Junior Joey Glover led the defense with eight tackles and a pair of sacks. Santos, junior Robert Edwards, senior Ben Dennis and junior Asher Dougherty all had four tackles, while seniors Jah’Khi Daves and Zach Stephens both had an interception in the game in the opening quarter.
Reading was able to avoid the shutout with a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:23 left in the third quarter from quarterback Kayson Fritz. The Red Knights dropped to 1-2 on the season with the loss.
Emmaus will hit the road Friday as they travel to Stroudsburg to take on the Mountaineers (2-1). The game will be aired LIVE on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m.
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Emmaus 38, Reading 7
Read – 0-0-7-0 – 7
Em – 17-7-14-0 – 38
Scoring:
Em – FG Will Buck 32 yards
Em – Kai Jefferson-Rushing 15 pass from Jerek Cooper (Buck PAT)
Em – Reilly Bechtel 9 run (Buck PAT)
Em – Jay Santos 26 run (Buck PAT)
Em – Daniel Duggan 32 pass from Cooper (Buck PAT)
Em – Neo Michel 15 run (Buck PAT)
Reading – Kayson Fritz 2 run (Jondre Guzman PAT)
Individual stats – Emmaus
Rushing – Jay Santos 5-86, Reilly Bechtel 9-71, Neo Michel 7-37, Jerek Cooper 7-28, Jewlien Torres 3-20, Peter Sherman 1-9, Daniel Duggan 1-6, Aiden Issler 3-3
Passing – Jerek Cooper 4 of 12, 81 yards, 2 TD; Peter Sherman 0-1, 0
Receiving – Cole Moreau 1-38, Daniel Duggan 2-22, Kai Jefferson-Rushing 1-15.
PHOTO GALLERY – Courtesy of Tom Ashelman
