Thanks in large part to a bewildering defensive scheme, the Emmaus Green Hornets defeated the Allentown Central Catholic Vikings (2-2) 24-7 last Saturday night at J. Birney Crum Stadium to remain undefeated (3-0).

Stats often tell who won. This time, they did not. The Vikings’ offense ran more plays (73-to-52), gained more first downs (18-11) and gained nearly as many yards (269-283) as the Hornets. But Emmaus made the big plays and won the turnover battle 3-0.

Like a python, the Emmaus defensive squad gradually squeezed the life out of the Viking offensive unit. The knockout was delivered with about a minute left when Tanner Ritter returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown.

“I’m really happy for the kids,” said Emmaus coach Harold Fairclough. “We lost last year to Central and that didn’t sit well with our kids. We had it circled. They wanted to get that taste out of their mouths.”

The Hornets got on top early, thanks to a six-yard-run by Brandon Camire, who scored on a six-yard touchdown run set up by a fumble recovery. Emmaus followed that up with a 24-yard field goal by Alex Orlando to go up 10-0. Once again, the defense set up this score thanks to a Jameel Sanders interception.

“We really emphasized getting turnovers,” said Fairclough. “The kids created some, which is awesome to see.”

The Vikings went on their only scoring drive of the night culminating when quarterback Matt Rauscher took it in from 18 yards out to cut the Central deficit to 10-7 with 2:18 left in the first half.

This is when Emmaus took charge. The Green Hornets received a big play from the duo of quarterback Jake Fotta and Ritter, who hooked up on a 68-yard pass play to the Central 2. Emmaus scored with 8.5 second left before halftime when Fotta refused to go down and made a determined run to score a touchdown. With the Orlando extra point, Emmaus led 17-7.

“The offense hung in there,” Fairclough said. “But we have a few things to clean up. If we can correct a couple of things up front I’ll feel better.”

The third quarter saw scoring chances for both schools, but neither was able to convert. On one Emmaus drive, a touchdown pass was wiped out on an illegal man downfield penalty from.

“We shot ourselves in the foot,” said Fairclough.

The Central offense was held at bay not only by the Emmaus defense, but the Hornet special teams and especially the foot of punter Orlando, who proved to be a viable weapon on this night.

Central did get to the Emmaus 6-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but could not stick it in. Like a needle to a balloon, coming off the field the Vikes looked deflated.

Camire wound up giving the Vikings’ a long night, gaining 131 yards on 21 carries, although as Emmaus fans know, this is standard operating procedure. Fotta passed for 98 yards, most of which came on the Ritter completion, completing half his tosses (7-for-14).