The Liberty football team seemed to finally find its footing.

After losing four of their first five games of the regular season, with the four defeats coming in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division, the Hurricanes won the next two to gain some momentum heading into the final third of their schedule.

But a couple of big plays doomed Liberty in a 28-13 loss to Emmaus last Friday night at East Penn School District Stadium.

Senior quarterback Blake Reed and junior wide receiver Deonte Castro had career-best performances in leading the Green Hornets (5-3 overall, 3-3 EPC South) to the victory.

Reed completed 11 of 20 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns, and Castro, his favorite target on the evening, caught five passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns, his second giving the Green Hornets a two-score cushion in the third quarter, it’s largest lead of the game.

It was the second straight win for Emmaus, and an important one in the league and District 11 playoff picture with Liberty (3-5, 1-5) coming in at just one game behind them.

“I thought offensively and defensively, we were able to do some good things in spurts but not the entire game,” Truby said. “They did a real nice job of playing four quarters. We did not compete for four quarters.”

Castro and Reed connected for the opening score of the game just two minutes in. Castro took a screen pass and darted down field behind a slew of blockers for a 36-yard touchdown.

Reed found Castro again in the third quarter for a score that put the Green Hornets comfortably ahead by two scores late in the quarter for their biggest lead of the game.

After Hurricanes quarterback Todd Erney rushed in from a yard away to tie the game at seven midway through the second quarter, the teams struggled to find any rhythm offensively and they went into the locker rooms with the same score at halftime.

At the start of the second half, Castro turned a short pass into a 63-yard completion that set up the go-ahead Emmaus touchdown, a three-yard run by Noah Breidinger.

“Two fourth-down plays we couldn’t convert, it’s the little things,” said Truby. “We had some stops and good plays but we’re just not doing enough.”

Erney connected with Javonte Haynes for a 10-yard touchdown, and even after the extra point attempt failed, Liberty trailed by just eight points, 21-13 early in the fourth quarter.

But another screen pass put this one away.

Reed threw to junior running back Lubens Myers, who raced 25 yards for the touchdown with 3:15 remaining.

The Hurricanes return home for another important conference tilt against Nazareth (4-4) Friday night.