The Parkland High School football team has been dealing with a lot of adversity on and off the field during the 2021 season. The regular season opener was canceled due to COVID protocols at Pleasant Valley and then throughout the six weeks after, the Trojans starting quarterback and backup quarterback both went down with injuries, along with other players as well.

The team has still been able to weather the storm and won seven of its first eight games this season, including the latest one when it came from behind once again to down Liberty 22-10 last Friday night in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference South Division game at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

Nakhi Bullock, a wide receiver on the team, stepped up when his number was called and took snaps as the quarterback. Bullock and Dahlir Adams combined for three touchdowns, and the Trojan defense, which earned a safety, held firm in the end for the win.

“Coach [Tim] Moncman always reminds the team of our mantra ‘next man up,’” said assistant coach Mike Facchiano. “We had one of our wide receivers starting at quarterback. We had some new starters on defense, and we still had our team respond to adversity, allowing us to win last weekend against a very physical Liberty team.”

After a scoreless opening quarter, the Hurricanes (1-8 overall, 1-8 EPC) got on the scoreboard first with a touchdown in the second quarter. The score would remain the same with Liberty ahead 7-0 at halftime.

After the break, the Trojans pulled even when Bullock raced 32 yards to the end zone with 8:48 left in the third quarter to even the score at 7-7. Parkland then caught a break with 5:26 left in the third when an errant snap sailed over the head of Liberty’s punter and out the back of the end zone for a safety and a 9-7 lead. Following the safety, the Trojans extended their lead to 16-7 when Adams found the end zone from a yard out with less than a minute to go in the third quarter.

The Hurricanes cut the deficit to 16-10 with 9:21 to play when Connor McLaughlin connected on a 32-yard field goal try.

But Adams found the end zone for his second score of the night to extend Parkland’s advantage to 22-10 with 3:50 remaining. Parkland’s defense then came up with a stop on 4th-and-11 with 1:13 to play to close out the victory.

Now, the Trojans welcome rival Emmaus for the regular season finale on Friday night at Parkland School District stadium. The Green Hornets (7-2 overall, 7-2 EPC) are coming off a loss at home to Easton last weekend. But Parkland knows what this game means to both teams, regardless of win-loss records.

“Emmaus represents a program with skills and depth at every position,” Facchiano said. “They have faced injuries throughout the year and have the depth and the skill to win. If you want to contend with the Green Hornets, you need to play a full four quarters and not give them any turnovers to capitalize on.”

Both teams will qualify for the District 11 playoffs regardless of the outcome Friday, but a win would go a long way for seeding purposes in a tight race among the top five teams in Class 6A.