Football – Williams throws 3 touchdowns, runs for another as Hornets roll PM East in their season-opener 41-0

Photo: Tom Ashelman

RECAP >> Senior quarterback Josiah Williams accounted for four total touchdowns last night as Emmaus opened their season with a 41-0 blowout win at Pocono Mountain East.

Williams threw for three scores and ran for another as the Hornets enforced the mercy rule in the third quarter in winning their season-opener for the 10th straight year. They also defeated PM East for the third time since the two schools first met back in 2014.

Emmaus (1-0) scored points in every quarter, jumping out to a 14-0 lead on their first two possessions of the night in building a comfortable 21-0 advantage at the break.

Williams hooked up with senior wideout Cael Kratzer for a pair of touchdowns of 31 and 33 yards. Kratzer led the Hornets with 68 yards receiving.

Senior tight end John Wassel caught his first career varsity touchdown of 18 yards in the second quarter and classmate Jasiyah Banks also scored on a 47-yard run.

Junior linebacker Chase Whitesell closed out the scoring in the waning seconds of the game with his first career varsity touchdown on a 40-yard fumble recovery.

Defensively, Emmaus held PM East to just 40 total yards of offense. Senior Ben Mercado and sophomore Robert Edwards led the Hornets with 10 tackles each. 

Emmaus will be back in action next Friday when they host Nazareth in their home-opener at East Penn School District Stadium. The game can be heard LIVE on www.easternpasportsnetwork.com beginning at 6:40 p.m.

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Emmaus 41, PM East 0

Em – 14-7-14-6 – 41

PME – 0-0-0-0 – 0

Scoring:

Em – Josiah Williams 5 yard run (Will Buck PAT)

Em – Cael Kratzer 31 yard pass from Williams (Buck PAT)

Em – John Wassel 18 yard pass from Williams (Buck PAT)

Em – Kratzer 33 yard pass from Williams (Buck PAT)

Em – Jasiyah Banks 53 yard run (Buck PAT)

Em – Chase Whitesell 40 yard fumble recovery (Charlie Peters PAT blocked)

STATS – Individual (Emmaus)

Rush – Jasiyah Banks 4-74, Riley Guiffre 7-44, Reilly Bechtel 4-34, Josiah Williams 5-54, Jewlien Torres 3-9

Pass – Josiah Williams 7 of 10, 161 yards, 3 TD, Jerek Cooper 0-1 0, Gavin Newhart 0-0 0.

Rec – Cael Kratzer 3-68, Jordin Mitchell 1-27, John Wassel 1-18, Reilly Bechtel 1-28, J Daves 1-21