Emmaus' defense held five of its last six opponents under 20 points heading in to last Friday's game against Nazareth, which had put up 62 points the week before.

The stingy Green Hornets made it six of their last seven thanks in large part to the defensive effort. Emmaus defeated Nazareth on senior night at East Penn School District Stadium, 29-14.

The defense really stepping up recently. It allowed only 19 points to Lehigh Valley Conference co-leader Whitehall in week eight and now held back an explosive Blue Eagle offense.

Emmaus head coach Randy Cuthbert praised the work of his defense and coordinator Sam Seneca.

"Sam is great," said Cuthbert. "He has a lot of experience. Defensively, I think we are really sound and we are good against the run. If you want to be a good team you have to be able to stop the run."

The defense managed to hold Nazareth's Jordan Gray to only 85 yards on 19 carries and one rushing touchdown as he exploded for a 66-yard run about midway through the second quarter. They also limited quarterback Justin Albert to 17-for-24 passing on the night with three interceptions, two by Jack Melnick and the third by Chris Schiermeyer to ice the game.

Melnick was happy to help halt two Blue Eagle drives.

"I have just been waiting all season to get my first pick because Kyzir [White] has been stepping up," said Melnick. "He really has been the only one in the secondary and Schiermeyer got one too. It was just great to be able to get one and help the team."

Cuthberts sees Melnick as an unsung hero.

"Everyone is talking about [Andrew] Davidson and Kyzir, but [Melnick] has played really well," said Cuthbert. "As far as tackles, I think he became our leading tackler this week. He is a guy that does so much for us and he is kind of behind the scenes and not always out in space making picks. "He is in there stopping the run and has been very valuable to us as well."

Wyl Miller returned this week after missing last week due to an injury. The junior racked up 118 yards on 26 carries to go with his 42 receiving yards on one catch, but was kept out of the end zone by Nazareth (4-4, 5-4).

That allowed others to get in to the action as Logan Kober (7-for-11 passing, 139 yards, one touchdown) found Sal Pagano (five rushes, six yards and four catches, 93 yards) for a 37-yard passing touchdown midway through the first.

Andrew Davidson, who was shut down by Whitehall, made his presence felt with 49 yards on 16 carries. He also made three trips to the end zone. The scored from 21 yards out, five yards out, and from 14-yards out with 9:14 left in the third quarter to make it 29-7 Emmaus. He also ran in a two-point conversion.

A nine-yard scamper by Albert made it 29-14 in favor of Emmaus (6-2 in LVC, 6-3 overall) with 1:32 remaining in the third, but the Blue Eagles couldn't muster anything more.

"I think the offense had the big challenge with the lineman and the tight ends at the line of scrimmage," said Cuthbert. "We had to be able to run the ball and we were able to do that. I think we could have scored some more points, but I was really proud of the way they responded and it shows that we have great kids. After that tough loss last week, to come back and play a game like this makes me proud of them. I'm happy for them."

Offensively, juniors Miller and Davidson led the way, but it was also a pair of seniors in Melnick and Schiermeyer who contained the Blue Eagles and secured the victory on senior night.