Football – Strong second half effort for second consecutive week is enough for Hornets as they stun rival and top seed Parkland 21-14 to advance back to District XI finals for first time since 2018

Dylan Darville (24) and teammate Jeremiah Sona (1) celebrate a touchdown during Friday's 21-14 upset win over rival Parkland. Photo: Tom Ashelman

RECAP >> “It’s now how you start that’s important, but how well you finish.”

That quote was never more appropriate for what took place on Friday night at Orefield Middle School.

For the second consective week, Emmaus started slow and fell behind, and for the second time the Hornets once again rallied with an incredible second half effort to stun their rival and top seed Parkland 21-14 in the District XI Class 6A semifinals.

Emmaus, which trailed 12-0 at the half before rallying for a stunning 20-19 victory in last Friday’s quarterfinal round over the two-time defending district champs Nazareth, once again came out slow in their second meeting against the Trojans as they fell behind early and were held scoreless in the first half.

But like they did last week, the Hornets a strong second half effort, coupled with a stingy defensive unit that forced six turnovers to gain revenge for a 25-14 loss to Parkland just two weeks ago at the same venue.

Emmaus (9-3) will now play for its first District XI title in program history as they are headed back to championship night for only the second time.

Awaiting the Hornets will be third-seeded Freedom, which handed Northampton, the No.2 seed, its first loss of the season, 21-9 in the other semifinal.

Emmaus last appeared in the championship game back in 2018 and ironically, it was against Freedom. The Patriots had their way with the Hornets winning 49-17 at Nazareth, but head coach Harold Fairclough’s team has already defeated Freedom once this season (13-6 back on September 3) and will look to do it again with much more on the line.

The championship game will be carried LIVE on The Eastern Pa. Sports Network beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m.

Senior running back/linebacker Jared Groller had a monster game in leading Emmaus as his 5-yard touchdown run, his 11th of the season, with 10:22 left to play in the fourth quarter proved to be the winning score. Groller finished with 71 yards on the ground and he also led the Hornets with seven tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery.

Sophomore quarterback Josiah Williams (10 of 25, 104 yards, 2 TD/2 Int) and junior wide receiver Dylan Darville (4 recept., 36 yards) also came up with a big efforts in the second half for the Hornets as the two hooked up on a 11-yard scoring play to tie the game at 7-7 with 9:07 left in the third quarter and then five minutes later, Williams found Darville on a 22-yard strike to give Emmaus its first lead of the game at 14-7 with just :21 seconds left in the quarter.

Parkland, which came in averaging 28 points per game, was held to its second lowest offensive output of the season.

Senior running back Dahlir Adams gave the Trojans a 7-0 lead on its first play from scrimmage as he raced 37 yards for his 17th touchdown of the season. Adams finished with 71 yards with most of those yards coming in the first half.

The Trojans only other score of the night came with a little over eight minutes left in the game as sophomore quarterback Luke Spang hit junior wide receiver Jack Harrison on a 45-yard scoring play.

Parkland had its six-game win streak snapped and finished the year at 9-2. The Trojans were hurt by six turnovers in the game including four fumbles.

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Em – 0-0-14-7 – 21

Pa – 7-0-0-7 – 14

Scoring:

P – Dahlir Adams 37 yard run (Gryffin Mitstifer PAT)

E – Dylan Darville 11 yard pass from Josiah Williams (Owen Garcia PAT)

E – Darville 22 yard pass from Williams (Garcia PAT)

E – Jared Groller 5 yard run (Garcia PAT)

P – Jack Harrison 45 yard pass from Luke Spang (Mitstifer PAT)

Individual – Em

Rushing – Jared Groller 10-71, TD; Tylik Jarvis 4-9, Josiah Williams 7-7, Sam Moratori 5-9, Jaiden Robinson 1-1

Passing – Josiah Williams 10 of 25, 104 yards, 2 TD/2 Int., Tyson Karrat 1-1, 52 yards, Jaiden Robinson 1-1, -3 yards.

Receiving – Jaidan Robinson 3-76, Tyson Karrat 4-46, Dylan Darville 4-36, Tylik Jarvis 1 (-2)