Missed chances. Missed opportunities.
Call it what you may, but unbeaten Emmaus certainly had their share of it in Friday night’s much-anticipated Week 8 matchup against once-beaten Nazareth.
Early on, midway through, an even at the end of the game the Hornets had their moments.
Ultimately, they didn’t take advantage and time ran out on head coach Harold Fairclough’s No.3 ranked state team as they tasted defeat for the first time this season.
Instead, it was the Blue Eagles celebrating their biggest win to date on Senior Night as they held on for a 20-14 victory before a frenzied atmosphere and near-capacity crowd at Andrew S. Leh Stadium.
Nazareth rallied from a low-scoring halftime deficit of 7-3 with a pair of touchdowns and the second of two Chris Bugbee 42 yard field goals on the night after the break, then held on the waning seconds of the fourth quarter as Emmaus’ attempt to tie the game came up short and the Blue Eagles survived to move to 7-1 on the season. It was just the second time in the last seven meetings dating back to 2017 that Nazareth defeated the Hornets.
Emmaus, which was looking for its second 8-0 start to the season since 2008, dropped to 7-1 and were left wondering afterwards about a number of missed scoring chances in the red zone and other scoring drives that produced no points.
Even despite that, the Hornets nearly pulled off the comeback, as on their final drive of the night down 20-14 with no timeouts remaining, they got all the way down to the Nazareth 19-yard line with :12 seconds left. But instead of taking a couple of shots into the end zone, senior quarterback Jake Fotta’s completion to sophomore wideout Rafeal Terrero was caught at the 11-yard line and Terrero was tackled by Collin Wells, ending the game and setting off a wild celebration for the Blue Eagles.
Offensively, Emmaus, which was averaging 38.6 points per game, managed just a pair of touchdowns on the night and was held to their second lowest offensive output of the season by a Nazareth defensive unit that was allowing just 11.5 points per game. The Hornets also turned the ball over twice and missed a 29-yard field goal that hit the upright on their first drive of the game.
Fotta finished the night 21 of 29 for 257 yards and a touchdown and just his second interception of the season. Senior wideout Dylan Darville had a career-high nine receptions for 83 yards and classmate Chase Fotta had a career-best 105 yards on just four catches. Senior running back Tylik Jarvis was held to just 37 yards on 16 rushes but he did have a 33-yard touchdown receiving in the second quarter that gave Emmaus its only lead of the night at 7-3.
Junior DE Mario Landino led Emmaus on the night with 10 tackles and a sack. Classmate DE Ben Mercado was right behind with nine tackles and a sack and senior CB Elijah Fajardo and senior FS Ryan DeJohn had six and five tackles, respectively.
As a team, Nazareth rushed for 179 yards on the ground behind junior Jed Bendekovits (9-79) and senior Collin Wells (10-74). Junior Mason Kuehner had a big night leading all wideouts with 114 yards on nine receptions. Senior quarterback Sonny Sasso accounted for two touchdowns — one a 20-yard pass to junior tight end Frankie Mroz and another, a 1-yard run, both in the third quarter — but was just 12 of 19 for 143 yards through the air. Bugbee had two 42 yard field goals which loomed large in the game.
Emmaus will look to get back to their winning ways next Friday as they travel to Cottingham Stadium to take on Easton (3-5). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
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Nazareth 20, Emmaus 14
Em – 0-7-0-7 – 14
Na – 3-0-14-3 – 20
Scoring:
Q1
Na – Chris Bugbee FG 42 yards
Q2
E – Tylik Jarvis 33 pass from Jake Fotta (Owen Garcia PAT)
Q3
Na – Frankie Mroz 20 pass Sonny Sasso (Bugbee PAT)
Na – Sasso 1 yard run (Bugbee PAT)
Q4
E – Josiah Williams 1 yard run (Garcia PAT)
Na – Bugbee FG 42 yards
Stats (Emmaus)
Rushing – Tylik Jarvis 16-37, Jasiyah Banks 2-22, Jake Fotta 7-14, Josiah Williams 2 (-2)
Passing – Jake Fotta 21 of 29, 257 yards, TD, Int
Receiving – Chase Fotta 4-104, Dylan Darville 9-83, Rafael Terrero 3-32, Tylik Jarvis 2-31, Ryan DeJohn 1-5, Donovan McCargo 2-1
PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Nathan Lewis)
