Behind a ground attack that rushed for a season-high 379 yards, Emmaus was able to celebrate Senior Night as they rolled to a 42-6 win over Allen in the final home game of the season last Friday at East Penn School District Stadium.
Junior running back Jay Santos ran for two touchdowns, senior quarterback Jerek Cooper also accounted for a pair of scores and defensively Emmaus forced three turnovers as head coach Harold Fairclough’s kept their District XI post-season hopes alive.
The victory was the second straight for the Hornets who improved to 4-5 on the season. Based on the latest 6A rankings, Emmaus is currently in the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. They will likely need to win at rival and unbeaten Parkland on Friday or hope for Pocono Mountain East to beat rival PM West to clinch a berth. The last time the Hornets missed districts was back in 2015.
Santos had his fourth 100+ yard performance of the season rushing for 120 yards and touchdown runs of 4 and 33 yards. Cooper also had a big night on the ground with 97 yards, including a 47-yard TD run in the first quarter that game Emmaus an early 7-0 lead. He also threw for 76 yards and a 11-yard TD pass to classmate Kai Jefferson-Rushing who was returning from an injury. Jefferson-Rushing was the Hornets leading receiver with four receptions in the game.
Junior Anthony Attar had just two carries in the game, but the one was a career-long 75-yard touchdown run, his third of the season. Senior backup quarterback Peter Sherman and sophomore wideout Ty Laird also hooked up on a 20-yard TD pass in the third quarter to close out the scoring.
Defensively, Emmaus allowed just one touchdown for the second consecutive week while limiting Allen to and just 40 yards on the ground. Senior Robert Edwards led the Hornets with six tackles and two sacks, while freshman Maximus Weber was next with four tackles. Junior Will Daves and Cooper each had an interception in the game.
Allen’s lone score of the night came midway through the third quarter as junior quarterback Julian Pagan hooked up with classmate Teshon Gaynair on a 24-yard TD pass cutting the Emmaus lead to 21-6. The Canaries, who started the season 3-0, dropped to 3-6 on the season after their sixth straight loss.
Prior to the game, Emmaus honored its senior class: Andersen Borst, Augustine Camacho, Jerek Cooper, Brian Brown, Joseph Gbur, Jacob Sollenberger, Kai Jefferson-Rushing, Kayden Frey, Colin Garrett, Peter Sherman, Rowan Muller, Jaden Garcia, Chris Duque, Aiden Issler, Anthony Gbur, Brody McHugh, Johah Labeda, Joey Glover, D’Angelo Flowers-Santiago, Asher Dougherty, Anthony Elias, Sebastian Miller, Robert Edwards and Gavin Yartymyk.
Catch all the LIVE action of Friday’s game on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m.
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Emmaus 42, Allen 6
All – 0-0-6-0 – 6
Em – 14-7-21-0 – 42
Scoring:
Em – Jerek Cooper 47-yard run (Gavin Yartymyk PAT)
Em – Jay Santos 4-yard run (Yartymyk PAT)
Em – Kai Jefferson-Rushing 11-yard pass from Cooper (Yartymyk PAT)
A – Teshon Gaynair 24-yard pass from Julian Pagan (pass failed)
Em – Santos 33-yard run (Yartymyk PAT)
Em – Anthony Attar 75-yard run (Yartymyk PAT)
Em – Ty Laird 20-yard pass from Peter Sherman (George Marmaros PAT)
Stats – Individual (Emmaus)
Rushing – Jay Santos 15-120, 2 TD; Jerek Cooper 7-97, TD; Anthony Attar 2-79, TD; Aiden Issler 4-39, Jaden Garcia 2-23, Kai Jefferson-Rushing 3-23, Peter Sherman 2 (-2)
Passing – Jerek Cooper 7-12, 76 yards, 1 TD/1 Int., Peter Sherman 1-2, 20 yards, TD
Receiving – Kai Jefferson-Rushing 4-31, TD; Tyler Carmosky 1-28, Ty Laird 1-20, TD, Jamaad Sanders 1-17, Mason Lenig 1-1.
PHOTO GALLERY – Courtesy of Tom Ashelman
#4 Jerek Cooper
#11 Kai Jefferson-Rushing
#26 Aiden Issler
#40 Maximus Weber
#21 Anthony Attar