The Emmaus High School football team came up one score short in its bid to start the season with a win as the Hornets fell to Neshaminy 20-13 last Friday night.

The host Skins went ahead 7-0 with a touchdown in the first quarter on a 61-yard run. The teams went scoreless the rest of the first half.

The Hornets broke through in the third quarter thanks to senior running back Anthony Attar Jr., who recorded two touchdown runs of 13 yards and eight yards to give his team its first lead at 13-7 midway through the quarter. Legend Vasquez helped set up that first Attar scoring run as he began the second half with a long kickoff return that put his team into Neshaminy territory.

After a defensive stop and a clutch third-down conversion, Attar raced for the pylon and secured his second touchdown of the night to give Emmaus the 13-7 advantage.

The momentum flipped from there as Tom Schoepfer took the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown to reestablish Neshaminy’s lead late in the third.

Williams added another touchdown run in the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 20-13. Then the Neshaminy defense came up with an interception to halt the Emmaus comeback attempt.

The Hornets finished with 195 yards of total offense, while the Skins tallied 238.

Hornet junior quarterback Kellen Hafner completed 15 passes for 105 yards. Attar ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns on 19 attempts. Nick Castro led the team in receiving with 33 yards on two receptions. Tyler Carmosky had seven tackles and an interception to lead the defensive unit.

Emmaus has its home opener this Friday night as it welcomes Phillipsburg High School to East Penn School District Stadium for a nonconference matchup. The Stateliners defeated Parkland last weekend 28-21 to open their season. Shane Moore ran 26 times for 116 yards and a touchdown for Phillipsburg, while Dominic Bracco threw for 157 yards and a score.