Emmaus fullback Andy Davidson has gotten plenty of recognition this season, particularly over the last month, for his play out of the Hornets' backfield.

But on Friday night against Scranton in the Eastern Conference Class AAAA semifinals, it was a play from Davidson on defense that turned around the Hornets' early-game struggles.

Following a Scranton touchdown with 3:06 to play in the first half, the Hornets trailed 6-0 until the midway mark of the fourth quarter. But after another Hornet drive ended without points, the senior put his stamp on the game on the Knights' next play from scrimmage.

With under eight minutes remaining, Davidson stripped the ball from Scranton running back Jacob Watts returned it 10 yards for the go-ahead score with 7:15 left on the clock. After a three-and-out for Scranton, Davidson capped an Emmaus seven-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run that secured the Hornets' 15-6 victory at Scranton's Memorial Stadium.

"He [Watts] had been carrying the ball a little lightly, and I just saw a perfect opportunity," Davidson said. "I think it was one of my best plays overall. It was a huge play for the actual game and it flipped the momentum."

The Hornets face Liberty in the championship game on Friday after the Hurricanes downed East Stroudsburg South, 36-6.

"It was a tough one, but it feels great," Davidson said. "Scranton played exceptionally well. It was a big momentum booster to come back like that."

Emmaus went ahead 7-6 with Davidson's strip and touchdown, but the Hornets had not sealed the win yet. When he ran for his second touchdown in less than five minutes and a successful two-point conversion, Emmaus had a bit of breathing room and a nine-point lead with 2:59 to play.

The message in a timeout before the play (on a fourth-and-goal from Scranton's 3-yard line) was simple: execute as a team.

"We just said we have to pull it together for this last play," Davidson said. "It was to basically ice the game. We all got together and said that we were going to come together for one more play."

His rushing totals may not have been up to his average, but Davidson grinded out each of his 36 carries to tally 110 rushing yards. His longest run on the day was eight yards.

"We just keep pounding," Davidson said. "That's the mentality-keep pounding the ball. You'll eventually get some breakaways, and then eventually you'll get some other guys that get big misdirection plays.

"Unfortunately, there were no big runs this game, but we still got it in the end."

Running back Alex Minnich proved to be a nice compliment to Davidson's downhill running style, finishing with 71 yards on eight rushes. Minnich also caught three of quarterback Logan Kober's six completions for 24 yards.

The Hornets opened the game with a 17-play drive that ate up 7:30, but an incompletion on a fourth down from Scranton's 19-yard line halted that spurt. The Knights punted the ball back to Emmaus after a three-and-out, but the Hornets couldn't muster any points after a 32-yard field goal was wide left early in the second quarter.

The Knights finally took advantage of the Hornets' missed opportunities with a 38-yard touchdown scamper from Watts late in the second quarter that made it 6-0 in favor of Scranton. Watts led all players with 129 yards on 20 attempts.