Defense wins championships. He also wins the quarter finals.

a week later Emmaus High School’s football team Won a league championship with. Parkland closureThe Green Hornets defense turned in another stellar performance to extend the season.

Emmaus, which ranked fourth, took fifth place Nazareth 35-0 District 11 Class 6A quarterfinals Friday night at East Penn School District Stadium.

The Hornets (9-2) will face top-seeded Easton (10-1) in the district semifinals next week at Cottingham Stadium. The Red Rovers defeated eighth-place Stroudsburg 42-7 in the quarter-finals.

“It took a lot of preparation,” Emmaus junior linebacker Robert Edwards said. “There were a lot of different packages we were going to add. We even had one where I went to nose guard and had two outside linebackers play on the edge to keep Peyton (Falzone) in check, because he’s a great playmaker.”

Hornets coach Harold Fairclough applauded his defensive team.

“It was a terrific effort from top to bottom: Jake Hildebrand, Pete Verile, Jake Reichard, Jeff Laird, Rob Sawicki, Eric Miller, Greg Waters,” he said. “These guys did a phenomenal job with the game plan. It was well thought out and well executed. My hat’s off to those guys.

Nazareth scored 55 points and gained 464 yards in a Week 10 loss to Easton. The Blue Eagles were averaging 35.9 points per game entering Friday.

“We weren’t in sync. Every play there were two or three guys disagreeing or a mistake was being made,” said head coach Tom Falzone, whose team was shut out for the first time during his tenure at Nazareth. “We couldn’t put it all together tonight… We played like crazy (offensively) last week and we couldn’t get it done this week.”

The Blue Eagles haven’t been idle since 2009.

“They are a great team,” Falzone said of Emmaus. “Maybe they get their first (regional title) this year, who knows? “They are rolling at full speed.”

Emmaus scored all the points it needed in the opening series of the game. Junior quarterback Jerek Cooper faked to his right and raced left for a 37-yard field goal. Senior kicker Will Buck added the extra point to give the home team a 7-0 lead with 9:32 left in the first quarter.

Nazareth (7-4) had an opportunity to tie the contest after freshman Luke DePietro returned a punt 54 yards to the Emmaus 14 in the final minute of the first quarter. The Blue Eagles had two costly downs to turn the ball over on third and fourth downs.

Otherwise, the teams gambled until Emmaus junior outside linebacker Cole Moreau made a game-changing defensive play for the second straight week. Moreau intercepted a breakthrough receiver, intercepted the Nazareth pass, and ran 41 yards for a touchdown. This is the youngster’s second pick-six in as many matches.

“It was huge,” Fairclough said of the defensive goal. “He’s just the kind of kid who makes big plays and plays on time. Two pick-6s in a row (weeks). “That kind of got us going, got us going a little bit… He’s just a point guard.”

“It really helped us because our offense didn’t have a lot of improvement at that time,” Edwards added. “That pick-six really helped us get excited defensively and we translated that into offensive points.”

Moreau took the defense off the field by shutting down a Nazareth receiver on third-and-9 on the next series.

During Emmaus’ punt return, Nazareth was assessed a personal foul penalty and the Hornets gave the ball to the visitors at the 32. Six plays later, senior shortstop Reilly Bechtel powered into the end zone from 6 yards out.

Emmaus took a 21-0 lead at halftime. Nazareth recorded just two first downs after halftime and 76 total yards (30 of which came on a pair of passes in the final 26 seconds of the half).

Nazareth turned the ball over twice in the third quarter. The Blue Eagles reached the Emmaus 6 on the opening drive of the second half. But Bechtel chased quarterback Peyton Falzone on fourth-and-5.

The Hornets’ ground game gained more traction as the contest continued. Bechtel broke free with a 41-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter.

“There were a lot of guys in the box. “They did some different things than we saw on film, so it took a little bit of getting used to,” Fairclough said. “And (Nazareth) made some good plays on defense. They hounded us a little bit. Our offensive line coach, Mark Scisly, made some calls at halftime. He did a great job making adjustments.”

“Coach Scisly went through film with the linemen and pointed out some little things they did here and there.” Bechtel in question. “These guys went there and did that. They opened gaps that were very close to being opened before. These were the results.”

Sophomore tailback Jay Santos capped the scoring with a 17-yard field goal. Buck’s PAT started the mercy rule with 5:37 left in the final period.

Nazareth, the 2023 D-11 6A champion, will graduate 17 seniors, most of whom were waiting their turn behind the previous class of 31 kids.

“That’s always the worst part of this job: saying goodbye to your seniors; Many of them (this season) had their first opportunity to come here as a university. They fought and fought for us all year long. I think we are more successful than we thought we would be at the beginning of the year. “I am proud of them.”

Nazareth finished with 229 yards of offense.

Bechtel had 15 carries for 148 yards and two touchdowns and attempted only seven passes for Emmaus. Santos finished the game with 81 yards and a score on seven carries. Cooper added 90 yards and a TD on 13 carries.

Emmaus will now have the opportunity to avenge their only defeat against local rivals this season. The Hornets lost to Easton 28-21 in overtime on September 20.

“We have to get in locked in,” Edwards said. Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Defensive MVP. “We have 24 hours to enjoy it and head to Easton. They are a great team. We’ll be playing at Cottingham, which is a great atmosphere. “I’m really excited.”

“I’m very excited to have another week with the kids and to be able to train here for another week,” Bechtel said. “This means a lot to me.”

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Kyle Craig can be reached at: [email protected].