Knowing that they had to put points on the scoreboard against a powerful rushing attack, the Parkland football team did more than enough scoring to send it into the District 2-11 Class 4A Subregional playoff this weekend rolling on a high note.

Six touchdowns, three on the ground and three through the air, gave the Trojans (8-2 overall, 6-2 EPC South) confidence heading into districts after a 41-14 rivalry win at Emmaus (5-5 overall, 3-5 EPC South) last Friday night. It was the third straight victory for Parkland.

"I told the kids that we don't want to limp into the playoffs, we want to sprint into the playoffs," said Trojan head coach Jim Morgans. "The kids took that to heart."

The Western Lehigh Exchange Club awards two athletes from each team, one on each side of the ball, as the MVP of the game.

Junior tailback Nolan Ridgway received the honor on offense after running for 108 yards on 9 carries and two touchdowns. His first TD opened the scoring and came on the Trojans first possession, setting a tone for the game. Both scores were on long runs of 35 and 58 yards.

"The offensive line and outside blocking, I couldn't have done it without them," Ridgway said. "It was big because it helped give our team confidence to play harder and everyone picked it up. It's an important win because now we are rolling into the playoffs."

If it wasn't for Ridgway's legs bursting long touchdown runs, fellow classmate Devante Cross may have taken home the hardware at the quarterback position.

Cross completed 12 of 17 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns, dividing the scoring to receivers Kenny Yeboah (7 catches for 122 yards), Jarey Elder (2 catches for 66 yards), and Gabe Clark (1 catch for 15 yards).

"We have that kind of football team, so we have to make calls and approach it that way," said Morgans. "We have a team that can score through the air and on the ground and I like the way we've become diversified. We've got a kid [Cross] who can really pull the trigger and some outstanding receivers. We can attack in a lot of ways."

On the defensive side, Parkland knew it was going to have a difficult task in slowing down Green Hornets' do-it-all back Andy Davidson.

Aside from an 80-yard score, the Trojans did a good job managing the talented back and his Emmaus offense by keeping them out of the end zone more often than not.

Davidson rushed for 196 yards on 33 attempts and two touchdowns. His second score, late in the second quarter, came after Parkland lost the ball on an onside kick attempt from the Green Hornets. The halftime lead was only 20-14.

But the Trojans did a much better job in the second half, outscoring Emmaus 21-0 and controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

Defensive MVP Preston Saylor, along with Erik DiGirolamo, Noel Brouse, Amir Wallace and Omar Haddad were seemingly in on every tackle made.

"Our line did a great job and the linebackers filled the gaps and alleys pretty well," Saylor said. "The safeties also came up and we swarmed to him. We had to play our game."

Now it is on to the opening round of the District 2-11 Class 4A Subregional playoffs. Parkland opens on the road at Number 2 seed Stroudsburg on Friday night.