When Emmaus knocked off Liberty last weekend in the District 11 Class 6A quarterfinals, there was a bit of a sigh of relief from the Green Hornets coaching staff. They were coming off of a dramatic win against rival Parkland, and were hosting their first district playoff game that any of these players, and most coaches haven’t experienced at Emmaus.

But just as they have for 10 of 11 games this year, the Green Hornets came out focused.

“It was a great atmosphere,” said first-year head coach Harold Fairclough. “I was a little worried heading into the week of practice prior because we were just coming off that huge win [against Parkland] and there was a lot of noise around town and school about the 9-1 regular season and what high expectations there were for districts.

“But the kids came out focused and took care of business. They executed the game plan, and I’m proud of the way they played. But we still need to improve on some things.”

Some of those things Fairclough mentioned were penalties and mental errors.

Emmaus (10-1 overall) will face a tougher test in Friday’s district semifinal at East Penn School District Stadium.

Freedom (7-4 overall) is riding a four-game winning streak. The Patriots took down Stroudsburg on the road in the quarterfinals 21-20. The Patriots ended the regular season with consecutive wins against Nazareth, Bethlehem Catholic and Liberty.

“They’re playing good football at the right time of the year,” said Fairclough. “You always want to be on winning streaks, but it’s even more important to be winning when you’re late in the season like we are now.”

Emmaus beat Freedom 37-35 back on Sept. 30 to improve to 6-0.

Freedom, which features an experienced quarterback in multi

-year starter and senior Joe Young, also boasts multiple weapons at the skill positions.

Cyrus Thompson, Dashaun Peterson and Alec Huertas all found the end zone during the previous meeting. Huertas, the wide receiver, was Young’s favorite target that night, catching all three touchdowns through the air that night.

“They have unbelievable talent at all of the skill positions on offense,” Fairclough said. “They can hurt you in a number of different ways. Obviously it starts with their quarterback (Young). He can move around in the pocket, and has a tremendous arm, but he can also beat you with his legs. We’re going to need to know our assignments on defense and contain him.”