Emmaus got back to .500 with a win last week. Liberty dropped to 2-2 with a loss.

Their records are one of the few similarities between the two teams that will stand on opposite sidelines Friday Night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

The Hurricanes bring a spread offense in which quarterback Doug Erney has several different receivers as well as the run the ball himself.

Emmaus brings a hard-nose running game, led by backs Andrew Davidson and Wyl Miller.

"It's going to be interesting," said Emmaus head coach Randy Cuthbert. "They have a lot of skill players and a dual threat quarterback. They're big up front and they have a lot of speed. They're going to present some challenges."

Erney has thrown for 893 yards in four games, including 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions, both came in last week's loss to Whitehall. He's completed passes to 10 different receivers this season, led by Darius Jones' 17 catches for 235 yards and three scores, as well as Elijah Hall's nine grabs for 215 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Izaiah Avent has seven catches for 161 yards and three touchdowns.

Erney is the team's top runner with team highs in carries (29) and yards (185).

"We have to be disciplined and play our responsibilities," Cuthbert said when asked how to contain Erney and the Liberty offense. "He was good last year and he's even better this year."

The Hurricanes lost their opener, 56-27, to Bethlehem Catholic. The followed it with wins over Allen (47-7) and Nazareth (48-21) before losing 56-20 to Whitehall last week.

Both teams come into the game looking to get above .500 and get into position for a district playoff berth.

"Every game is big," said Cuthbert. "We were in a tight game last week and we were able to finish. We played a very physical game."

Emmaus played without their leading rusher last week in Wyl Miller because of what Cuthbert called a "school issue." Miller is expected to play against Liberty.

The Hornets got a great game from Kyle Boney last week in Miller's absence. As always, they will try to establish a running game against the Canes. Cuthbert expects them to play their usual 3-4 and pack the box to stop the run. He said his team's passing game is still improving, but the Hornets will always be a run-first team.

"We're going to run the ball," he said. "We want to position our players to be able to run the ball against everything."