Roller coaster contests that include multiple lead changes, explosive plays, and high scores are usually infrequent for any one team as the season goes along. These instant classics typically occur once or twice a year.

The Emmaus Green Hornets has been a part of these types of contests in back-to-back weeks.

In week one, Emmaus came up on the wrong side of an overtime thriller against Pennridge and this past Friday night Emmaus (0-2, 0-1) was on the losing side of a 32-29 game against Bethlehem Catholic (2-0, 1-0) that went down to the wire at East Penn School District Stadium.

Junior Wyl Miller, who had 139 yards rushing on 14 carries with two touchdowns in addition to 16 yards receiving on two catches, likes being a part of these close games.

"It is actually good," Miller said. "We just have to work harder. We have to fix our mental mistakes and move on from these games and hopefully end up on the winning end of these."

Head coach Randy Cuthbert said going in to this game that his team needed to eliminate the mental mistakes. The opening kick-off was evidence that the Hornets haven't quite done that.

Bethlehem Catholic attempted an onside kick to open up the game and recovered it after it ricocheted off a Green Hornet that was caught off guard. On their first offensive play, the Hawks scored on a 47-yard quarterback keeper to take an early 6-0 lead.

The Hornets countered with a big gain on their first offensive play of the game. Miller rushed up the middle, emerged in the secondary and sprinted to the end zone to make it 7-6 with just 30 seconds off the game clock.

Emmaus was losing 13-7 at halftime. The Green Hornets' senior quarterback Brad Foltz was 3-for-7 passing with two interceptions in the first half.

Cuthbert started the second half with sophomore Logan Kober under center.

"Brad was struggling with his execution," Cuthbert said after the game. "I told him that it wasn't that I didn't have confidence in him, I just wanted to give Logan a shot. We weren't productive and Logan did a great job in the second half and made some plays. We will look at practice and the film and we will see who starts next week."

Another player who didn't finish the game was senior wide receiver Kyzir White, who left very early in the fourth quarter due to cramping issues for the second week in a row. Cuthbert, along with the medical staff, is baffled by White's issues.

"I don't know," Cuthbert said. "We are giving him water, bananas, pickle juice and Gatorade. Some people, I guess, are more prone to cramps, but I don't know."

The teams exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter. The Hornets' seven points came on a Miller six-yard run and an extra point by senior Hunter Kushy, who was 3-3 on PATs on the night.

The score was 19-14 Becahi heading in to the final quarter, where it seemed like everything got started.

Becahi opened the fourth with a drive that lasted only a few plays as it resulted in a 91-yard touchdown pass from Julian Spigner to Michael McDaniel, both of whom had explosive evenings against the Hornets.

Emmaus turned it over on downs on its next drive as Kober was sacked on fourth down. That left the Golden Hawks with great field position, but on the second play of the drive McDaniel fumbled the ball and it was scooped up by junior Andrew Davidson, who went 66 yards for a touchdown and a 29-26 lead.

On the ensuing kick-off, the Hawks thought the Green Hornets would attempt an onside kick, but to their surprise Kushy kicked it deep to Freddie Simmons, who found an opening and went 75 yards to the end zone. That dramatic return put the Golden Hawks back on top for good by a score of 32-29 as the last 1:40 ticked away.

"It is gut- wrenching, man ... two weeks in a row," said Cuthbert.