Green Hornets get big lead, hang on

Emmaus didn’t want a repeat of last week’s heartbreaking onepoint loss to Easton that came down to the final seconds.

So, coach Harold Fairclough’s Green Hornets scored 21 straight points during a key stretch that spanned the third and fourth quarters Friday night, turning a four-point deficit into a 17-point advantage.

They held on to top Liberty 31-28 in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South contest at Emmaus High School.

Brandon Camire, who entered with 809 rushing yards, racked up 185 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned a punt 64 yards for a score. His 1-yard run into the end zone started Emmaus’ 21-point outburst with 3:15 left in the third period and his punt return capped it with 6:46 to play.

Liberty scored two TDs in the final 5:59 as Dallas Holmes hit Rondell McNeil for a 35-yard scoring strike and Jaiden Canada from 20 yards out.

John Ferris recovered Liberty’s onside kick with 82 seconds left and the Green Hornets ran out the clock.

“I liked the way we responded,” said Fairclough, whose team improved to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the EPC South.

“We didn’t hang our heads or anything. We kept battling and fighting. We’re young and inexperienced and we play like it sometimes. We’re letting some teams hang around. I love the effort and it’s a great group to be around, though. We got their best effort but we got it done.

“We definitely needed it,” he said. “That one last week hurt. It took a little longer than I thought to get over it. But this takes care of that. We’re on to the next one.”

Camire stars: The Green Hornets’ junior standout broke the scoring seal with a 90-yard TD sprint in the opening quarter.

He went on to carry 28 times for his 185 yards.

“I knew once I got past the first wave,” Camire said of his long run, “I was going to get decent yards. But I think it was Jameel Sanders on the outside who made an amazing block ... and once I was in the open field I just ran.”

Camire credited Liberty’s defense for making him work for his yards. Hurricanes linebacker Zaire Mitchell, in particular, had a huge game on defense.

“I’ve got to give credit to the Liberty linebackers,” Camire said. “I’ve never been hit so hard. They’re a good, solid team.”

Emmaus’ non-Camire TD was a 50-yard pass play from quarterback Jake Moyer to wideout Jake Ogutu on the final play of the third quarter. Moyer passed for 120 yards in total.

Another standout for the Green Hornets was defensive back Kamron Bertie, who made numerous clutch plays in both the pass game and run support.

Michael Blouse is a freelance writer.