It looked like Liberty was on the verge of pulling an upset last Friday night at home against Emmaus, but things quickly unraveled in the final 18 minutes as the Hornets came back from a 20-3 deficit to score 28 unanswered en route to a 31-20 victory.

Lubens Myers rushed for 265 yards and three touchdowns to spark Emmaus for the comeback win.

The win pushed the Hornets to 7-1 on the season heading into this week’s matchup with Easton, while the loss dropped Liberty to 5-3 into their showdown with Nazareth.

After falling behind by 17 points with 5:38 in the third quarter following a 78-yard TD reception by Jayden Figeuroa from sophomore QB Tristan Reinert, Emmaus’ rushing attack broke off huge runs in their comeback bid.

Two-plays after Figuueroa’s score, Myers busted an 80-yard TD to give Emmaus (7-1) life.

“That was the game-changer,” said Emmaus head coach Harold Fairclough of Myers’ first touchdown. “That was huge. It was a momentum swing. They hit us with the big play and we came right back and hit them with a big play. You could hear the air go out of our sideline when (Figueroa) hit that long one. We were just trying to stay positive and Lubens set the tone.”

Hornets’ QB Derek Sheaffer then found Sone Ntoh on a 17 yard TD pass with 2:01 left in the third to pull things within 20-17 heading into the fourth.

With 6:26 left in the final stanza Myers put the Hornets up for good with an 81 yard TD run. He then added a 51 yard burst with just over a minute remaining to ice the contest.

“I credit them a whole bunch for executing in the second half and sticking with the run game,” said Liberty head coach John Truby. “At the end of the game we just didn’t have the bodies to stay with the five man front, and young guys weren’t ready for the spotlight. That’s on me as a coach more than anyone else.”

The Hurricanes were already dealing with the loss of quarterback Todd Erney because of a “school policy” issue. Following Figueroa’s TD catch, he was tackled hard on his shoulder in the end zone and had his arm in a sling.

That meant the loss of a Liberty defensive lineman and was the beginning of the end for the Hurricanes defensive front on the night.

“They [Liberty] went away from their five-man front,” Fairclough said. “When they went to a four-man front we knew we had a chance to run the ball and we gashed them a little bit.”

After falling behind early, Fairclough challenged his team at the intermission to respond. “We didn’t change much at halftime, but we asked how bad they wanted this win,” he said. “They talked amongst themselves and they figured it out in the second half. They executed like crazy in the second half.”

The soft-spoken Myers didn’t gush about his big night, but was relieved that his team was able to come from behind.

“We just stayed positive at halftime and on the sideline,” Myers said. “We knew how they were lining up against us and we just executed better in the second half. This just shows that we have heart and we can come back from anything.”