October 6, 2019
RECAP >> This wasn’t the homecoming performance Harold Fairclough was looking for from his team.
Not at this point in the season, and not against his former school that was that was playing on just four days of rest following a 30-point loss in their previous game.
That’s why what happened at East Penn School District Stadium on Friday night was so disappointing for the Hornets fourth-year coach.
Visiting Central Catholic rode the hot arm of junior quarterback Matt Rauscher as the Vikes jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as they spoiled Emmaus’ Homecoming with a dominating 35-17 win.
Rauscher accounted for four of his team’s five scores on the night as he threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as he single-handedly led the Vikes who were coming off a 44-14 loss to Easton in a game that finished on Sunday after being postponed by lightning one day earlier.
“We got physically beat up tonight,” said a disappointed Fairclough following the game.” “We didn’t take pride in what we were doing. We got our butts handed too us, just a good old fashion butt whooping. They wanted it more than we did. That’s all it comes down to.”
The loss was a costly one for Emmaus as they dropped to 4-3 after falling to Central Catholic for the first time since 2011. The road doesn’t get any easier for the Hornets with a brutal stretch to close out the regular-season against the likes of Freedom, Bethlehem Catholic and Parkland, three teams with a combined 16-5 record.
Emmaus struggled to find any kind of offense as they were held to their lowest point-total of the season against a Vikes team that was allowing 23 points a game thru the first six weeks.
Junior running back Brandon Camire ran for 128 yards and went over 1,000 yards for his career on his first carry of the night, but was held without a touchdown for the first time this season.
His classmate, Jacob Moyer, struggled at quarterback as he completed just 4 of 13 for 55 yards and two interceptions before being replaced in the second half by fellow junior Alex Lanzone, who saw action for the first time since a Week 2 loss to Nazareth. Lanzone played well in relief as he threw for career-high 162 yards and two touchdowns, one each to classmates Chad Newhard and Jameel Sanders, who had a career-high five receptions for 105 yards.
“Jake didn’t get off to a good start and he left some plays out there, so I was a little frustrated with that” said Fairclough. “I wanted to see if Alex could get back in there and give us a little bit of a spark.”
Defensively, Emmaus gave up its second highest point total of the season as they struggled all night to slow down a potent Central Catholic offense, led by Rauscher who was an efficient 13 of 16 for 203 yards and his favorite target wide receiver George Hlavac who caught a pair of touchdowns and had 121 yards on just four receptions.
Junior linebacker Connor Carter led the Hornets with a team-high nine tackles, while fellow linebacker sophomore Jared Groller made seven stops.
Emmaus will look to bounce back on Friday as they travel to Bethlehem Area School District Stadium to take on defending District XI champ Freedom. The game will be aired live on www.pennsportsradio.com beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. Kickoff is set for 7:05 p.m.
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CCHS – 7-7-14-7 – 35
Emmaus – 0-3-7-7 – 17
Scoring:
CC – George Hlavac 32 yard pass from Matt Rauscher (Chris Matejcek PAT)
CC – Rauscher 1 yard run (Matejcek PAT)
Em – Alex Orlando FG 22 yards
CC – Rauscher 11 yard run (Matejcek PAT)
Em – Chad Newhard 14 yard pass from Alex Lanzone (Orlando PAT)
CC – Hlavac 55 yard pass from Rauscher (Matejcek PAT)
Em – Jameel Sanders 13 yard pass from Lanzone (Orlando PAT)
CC – Jayden Williams 9 yard run (Matejcek PAT)
INDIVIDUAL STATS – Emmaus
Rushing – Brandon Camire 25 car., 128 yards, Alex Lanzone 3-13, Jacob Moyer 1 (-8)
Passing – Jacob Moyer 4 of 13, 55 yards, 2 Int., Alex Lanzone 11 of 22, 162 yards, 2 TD
Receiving – Jameel Sanders 5 recept., 105 yards, TD, Brandon Camire 4-53, Chad Newhard 3-39, TD; John Ferris 3-19