The District XI 6A football championship game between the Freedom Patriots and the Emmaus Green Hornets appeared to be a matchup of equals.

The two teams had been declared EPC South co-champions after posting identical 9-1 regular season records. Freedom had won the regular season game between the squads 32-31 in overtime after making up a 15-point deficit in the last 1:11 of regulation.

When the final horn sounded on Saturday night in Nazareth and the scoreboard showed a score of 49-17, the Patriots left no doubt as to who was the best football team in the Lehigh Valley.

Emmaus won the coin toss and elected to put their high-octane offense on the field to start the game. The Green Hornets chewed up over 5 minutes as they marched down the field, mixing runs and passes. On a 3rd-and-5 from the Freedom 10, senior linebacker Tristan Wheeler made the first of his many big plays on the night, dropping the runner for a loss. Emmaus settled for a field goal for what would be the only points of the first quarter by either team.

Freedom got on the board less than 30 seconds into the second quarter when QB Jared Jenkins hit Vincent Reph in stride for a 33-yard TD to finish off the second Pates offensive series of the game.

On the next Patriot possession, Jalen Stewart followed up his 43-yard gallop through Green Hornet defense with a 2-yard touchdown plunge to extend the lead to 14-3.

Emmaus got its offense going again and scored its first TD of the night to trim the margin to 14-10.

Following a Freedom punt, Emmaus took over at its own 20 with a 1:10 left in the half and it seemed like the teams would head to the locker room separated by four points. The Green Hornets weren’t content with that result and came out throwing. Rontay Dunbar was prepared and read the QB the whole way, jumping the out route and taking the ball to the house to put Freedom up 21-10.

Emmaus was undeterred and stayed aggressive when they got the ball back. Two plays brought them to the Patriot 46 with 36 seconds left in the half. Tristan Wheeler ended the threat when his sack forced the ball from the quarterback’s hands and he recovered the fumble as it squirted free from the scrum in the backfield.

Some precision Jenkins passing and the judicious use of their three timeouts got the ball to the Green Hornet 2-yard line with 3 seconds left. Head coach Jason Roeder eschewed the field goal attempt and put his trust in his offensive line and Tristan Wheeler. Wheeler appeared to get stacked up at the line of scrimmage but was able to shake free and surge forward. As the pile of bodies around his feet grew larger, Wheeler lunged forward, stretched out with the ball, and broke the plane of the goal line.

Roeder spoke about his decision and the impact the result had on the game.

“Look at the points, it was the difference. You talk about playing every play, playing the next play, and not putting it on cruise control and coast and our guys did. They just kept battling and there were huge plays at the end of the half,” Roeder said.

Freedom never allowed Emmaus a chance to get back into the game. The second Patriot drive of the 3rd quarter saw Stewart break tackles in the backfield before busting around the right side for a 54-yard gain. He ran for the remaining 8 yards on the next play to make the score 35-10.

Wheeler stopped the next Green Hornets’ possession with an interception and Stewart capped off the ensuing drive with his third touchdown of the game. He later added a fourth as the final score of the contest.

Next up, the Patriots will take on the District XII 6A champions, St. Joseph’s Prep on Saturday at 1 p.m. The PIAA quarterfinal game will be played at Charles Martin Memorial Stadium at the Northeast Supersite. The Hawks advanced with a 49-14 win over Northeast High School. St. Joe’s was ranked #18 in the country in USA Today’s preseason poll. They are currently regarded as the #2 team in Pennsylvania by MaxPreps.