The Parkland High School football team fell behind twice in the opening quarter and trailed 13-7 after one, but the Trojans scored 35 unanswered points in the next two quarters to come from behind and beat Liberty 56-19 last Friday night on senior night in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division game at Parkland School District Stadium.

It is the fourth straight win for the Trojans (6-3 overall, 4-3 EPC South) after a season-long two-game losing streak, having started to right the ship before the regular season finale at rival and first place Emmaus on Friday night.

“It certainly is a good feeling stringing together the last couple of weeks with some wins,” said assistant coach Mike Facchiano. “It’s a testament to work ethic the athletes during practice. I feel that the Liberty game was a good opportunity to see our offensive line execute well. You also saw our defensive line play fast.”

Following an opening drive touchdown by the Hurricanes (2-7, 0-6), Parkland answered with a touchdown pass from Luke Spang to Trey Tremba to take its first lead, 7-6. Liberty then responded with another score and walked off the field at the end of the first quarter leading 13-7.

But from that point on, the Trojans recorded three straight touchdowns in the second quarter to go into halftime ahead 28-13, and then scored twice more back-to-back in the third to put the game out of reach midway through the third.

Spang completed 19 of 25 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for another one. Tremba ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns and Osmany Guzman found the endzone once on the ground. Jack Harrison caught seven passes for 134 yards. Nakhi Bullock finished with a touchdown reception.

Parkland now sets its sights on the regular season finale, which is another important game with the Green Hornets (8-1, 6-1), the top team in the South Division. A win would propel the Trojans into the top four, potentially top-three in the conference and would help with seeding in next week’s District 11 6A playoffs. The Green Hornets will be a tough challenge.

Facchiano called Emmaus the most well-rounded team in the league.

“They have size/athleticism on their o-line led by (Benjamin) Mercado and (Mario) Landino,” he said. “They have a quarterback in (Jake) Fotta that has weapons with (Dylan) Darville, his brother (Jake Fotta), and (running back Tylik) Jarvis. Defensively, they are aggressive and athletic flying to the ball. It is important for us to win the week. Our focus has to be on executing against one of the better teams in the league. After Friday, we will evaluate what needs to be done next week and continue our process.”