Homecoming games can sometimes be tricky for high school football coaches with a lot of distractions throughout the week.
None of those off the field activities seemed to bother head coach Harold Fairclough’s team on Friday night.
Facing a Whitehall team that had won just two of its first six games, Emmaus didn’t overlook the underdog Zephyrs as they jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in rolling to a 31-7 victory before a nice-sized crowd at East Penn School District Stadium on Homecoming.
Emmaus, coming off arguably one of their best performances of the season last Saturday in a 38-6 win over Central Catholic, led just 10-0 at the intermission before pulling away in the second half as they improved to 5-2 on the season.
Senior wide receiver Kai Jefferson-Rushing had two touchdowns on the night – one through the air and the other on the ground – while classmate Reilly Bechtel ran for two scores for the Hornets offense, which put up 30+ points in a game for the fifth time this season.
Emmaus led from wire-to-wire as senior kicker Will Buck booted his second 44-yard field goal of the season on his team’s opening possession of the night giving the Hornets a 3-0 lead.
Junior quarterback Jerek Cooper (11 of 15, 120 yards) then tossed his eighth touchdown of the season connecting with Jefferson-Rushing on an 18-yard scoring strike extending the lead to 10-0 heading into halftime.
Bechtel, who finished with 128 yards on the ground, scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 6-yard run pushing Emmaus’ lead to 17-0. He later added an 18-yard TD run to close out the scoring.
Defensively, the Hornets were once again stout as they limited Whitehall to just one score on the night and 115 yards of total offense. It was the fourth time this season that defensive coordinator Jake Hildebrand’s unit had allowed to just one touchdown in a game. Bechtel led the unit with five tackles and two sacks. Junior Robert Edwards also had a big night with four tackles, five assists and a sack.
Whitehall dropped to 2-5 with the loss. The Zephyrs lone score of the night came in the third quarter as quarterback Tanner Dogmanits hooked up with brother Talon on a 34-yard touchdown pass.
Emmaus will return to action on Friday as they travel back to J. Birney Crum Stadium to take on Dieruff at 7 p.m. 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 31, Whitehall 7
Wh – 0-0-7-0 – 7
Em- 3-7-7-14 – 31
Scoring:
Em – Will Buck 44 yd FG
Em – Kai Jefferson-Rushing 18-yard pass from Jerek Cooper (Buck PAT)
Em – Reilly Bechtel 6-yard run (Buck PAT)
Wh – Talon Dogmanits 34-yard pass from Tanner Dogmanits (Cole Richards PAT)
Em – Jefferson-Rushing16-yard run (Buck PAT)
Em – Bechtel 18-yard run (Buck PAT)
Individual stats –
WHITEHALL
Rushing – Tanner Dogmanits 6-22, E. Lopez 2-16, T. Dogmanits 2-12, B. Bird 4-11, I. Blanco 4-7
Passing – Tanner Dogmanits 11 of 18, 47 yards, 1 TD/1 Int
Receiving – Talong Dogmanits 3-47, TD; B. Bird 1-3, E. Wamken 3-3, N. Schmeckenbecher 4 (-6)
EMMAUS
Rushing – Reilly Bechtel 16-128, 2 TD; Jerek Cooper 7-22, Jay Santos 5-21, Kai Jefferson-Rushing 1-16, TD; Peter Sherman 1 (-1), Neo Michel 3 (-2), Jewlien Torres 1 (-2)
Passing – Jerek Cooper 11 of 15, 120 yards, 1 TD
Receiving – Kai Jefferson-Rushing 3-28, TD; Jah’Khi Daves 2-25, Ben Jones 2-18, Daniel Duggan 2-17, Chase Whitesell 1-17, Sam Stephan 1-15
PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Tom Ashelman)
Jerek Cooper #4
Reilly Bechtel #44
Will Buck #84
Kai Jefferson-Rushing #11, Daniel Duggan #3, Jah’Khi Daves #8
Brody McHugh #55, Robert Edwards #50