In a season that features a lot of parity among the top four or five Class 6A high school football teams in the Lehigh Valley, the final four have emerged.

And the Hornets are one of them.

Over the past two weeks, the Emmaus High School football team has posted two marquee wins to earn a spot against top-seeded Easton in this Friday’s District 11 semifinals.

After shutting out Parkland to end the regular season, the Hornets followed that up with a shutout of fifth-seeded Nazareth, 35-0, last Friday night in the district quarterfinal round at East Penn School District Stadium.

“The guys were dialed in,” said Emmaus head coach Harold Fairclough. “Last week’s performance [against Parkland] was great, so we just carried that momentum into this one. We had another good week of practice and I think a lot of it is us being focused and locked in. Our coaches did a great job of putting together a great game plan and our kids did an even better job of coming out and executing and playing with a lot of energy and a lot of effort.”

It was a dominant performance for the Emmaus defensive unit.

The Blue Eagles (7-4) scored 55 points and totaled 464 yards in their regular season finale at Easton. They were averaging 35.9 points per game entering Friday, when they were held to just 174 total yards (79 rushing, 95 passing).

Nazareth went 4-for-14 on third downs in the game, along with a 1-for-5 mark on fourth down. The Hornets converted nearly half their third downs, going 4-for-9, while not turning the ball over the entire game.

Emmaus scored just 2:28 into the game on its opening drive as Jerek Cooper raced down field for a 37-yard touchdown run.

Cole Moreau intercepted a pass and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown Friday, his second pick-six in as many games.

“It was huge,” Fairclough said. “He’s just that kind of kid who makes those big plays and timely plays. Two pick-six’s in back-to-back weeks. It kind of got us going, sparked us a little bit. He’s just a playmaker.”

Reilly Bechtel recorded the next two scores for the Green Hornets, a six-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and then a 41-yard score in the fourth quarter. Jay Santos concluded the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown run in the final period.

Bechtel rushed 16 times for 142 yards. Cooper and Santos both finished with 81 yards on the ground. Defensively, Neo Michel led the way with seven tackles. Moreau and Robert Edwards both had six tackles.

The fourth-seeded Hornets improved to 9-2 overall and will take on the top seed, Easton (10-1), on Friday night in the semifinals at Cottingham Stadium. The Red Rovers defeated eighth seed, Stroudsburg, in the quarters.