Friday night’s originally-scheduled game against Liberty was moved up 24 hours with the unknown weather conditions of Hurricane Joaquin looming.

But it was another hurricane that gave Emmaus problems on Thursday night.

While Emmaus scored 24 points in the opening half, thanks in large part to 179 rushing yards and three touchdowns from Kyle Boney, Liberty took a 28-24 lead into the break. There was certainly confidence and a bit of momentum on Emmaus’ sideline, yet the Hurricanes were the ones leading going into the locker room.

The second half was a different story.

The teams combined for just 13 points in the final two quarters, and Liberty’s (4-1) defense was able to halt Emmaus (1-4) on it’s final drive to come away with a 34-31 victory.

“We’ve had hard times against people that spread the ball out with mobile quarterbacks,” head coach Randy Cuthbert said. “To get a couple of stops there, it’s something to build on. It’s obviously still disappointing to lose. Everybody wants to win. They played with a great effort, but just came up a little bit short.”

Liberty scored the first points of the second half on an 8-yard touchdown run by Gunner Anglovich, giving the Hurricanes their largest lead at 34-24 after the missed extra point.

But after failing to convert a fake punt on their first series of the second half, and then sustaining a three-and-out on their next offensive possession, Boney ran for his fourth score late in the fourth quarter to bring the Hornets back to within 34-31.

The defense held its own on Liberty’s next possession, forcing a turnover on downs with less than two minutes to play, but the Hornet offense couldn’t make it beyond Liberty’s 49-yard line to try a potential game-tying field goal.

“We knew we were going to have a hard time with some of their guys in space,” Cuthbert said. “We’re not the fastest team and that’s going to give us some challenges. But I thought defensively in the second half we played much better, and that’s a positive sign.

“We were able to get some stops, and we were able to get some turnovers with the short pooch kicks, which we were planning on using.”

Those pooch kicks came on two of the Hornets’ first three kickoff attempts. Both were recovered by Brandon Rapose, and the opening kickoff led to a quick field goal by the Hornets’ Carson Landis.

But that didn’t seem to faze Liberty quarterback Doug Erney, who threw four touchdowns in the first half to keep pace with Emmaus’ scoring attack. His 66-yarder to Victor Santiago on the Hurricanes’ third offensive play put them in front 7-3 not even three minutes into action.

“They can score a bunch of points, and their quarterback, I really like watching him,” Cuthbert said. “He’s just a football player and makes a ton of plays. He scrambles around. He’s very hard to tackle. He can run and throw. He’s the guy that makes them go.”

Erney then hooked up with Darian Street for back-to-back touchdowns that put Liberty in front 21-17 midway through the second quarter. But after punts from both sides on their ensuing offensive possessions, Boney ran for his third score of the half to give Emmaus the lead back with 2:05 to play in the half.

“Kyle is a warrior and battler,” Cuthbert said. “He’s a unique back because he’s that big and he can move that quickly, read blocks, and he can run around you or run through you. He’s been big for us all year.”

Boney had runs of 26, 31 and 61 yards against the Hurricanes, all coming in the first half.

Liberty took advantage of the little time Emmaus left them with in the first half, as Erney capped a six-play drive with a 41-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Elijah Williams that put the Hurricanes ahead for good.

Sal Pagano provided a nice change of pace to Boney, rushing for 79 yards on 13 carries.

The Hornets look to rebound after their fourth straight loss as they travel to Northampton in Week 6. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Friday.