Just three weeks after the Emmaus High School football team shut out Parkland to finish off the regular season, the Trojans turned the tables in a rematch of the Cedar Crest Boulevard rivalry.

Using the recent loss as a motivator and learning experience, the Trojans avenged the week 10 loss by beating Emmaus 17-3 in last Friday’s District 11 Class 6A title game at Whitehall.

The Trojan offensive line won the battle in the trenches as Parkland ball carriers ran for 228 yards on 45 carries in the win.

TJ Lawrence led the way with 91 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Quarterback Osmany Guzman ran for 67 yards and a score while completing five of seven passes for 50 yards.

Emmaus (10-2) had trouble moving the ball against a stout Parkland defense. The Hornets went three-and-out on two of four first-half possessions before heading to halftime down 10-0.

“We couldn’t get much going offensively,” said Emmaus head coach Harold Fairclough. “We had some things open. We didn’t connect. We missed a block or two up front. A couple penalties here and there.

“They were hurting us in the run game. We just did not play our best brand of football that got us here and came up short.”

Parkland (11-2) got on the board on its first possession of the game with a 30-yard Doug Bell field goal.

After forcing an Emmaus punt, the Trojans took over at their own 44-yard line and got to the Hornet 12 before settling for the field goal.

The Trojans made it 10-0 when Lawrence scored from a yard out with 2:56 left in the first half.

Emmaus attempted a field goal with no time left in the second quarter, but Lawrence, playing on the field goal block team for just the second time this season, blocked the attempt.

The second half saw just one first down and four punts on the first four drives before Parkland put together its longest drive of the game on its third possession of the half.

Starting at their own 16-yard line, the Trojans went 84 yards in 10 plays before Guzman scored from eight-yards out for a 17-0 lead.

Emmaus hit it’s biggest play of the night on its next drive when quarterback Jerek Cooper hit Benjamin Jones for a 43-yard gain. But the Trojans held strong and forced a Will Buck field goal to keep their two-score lead at 17-3 with 11:11 left in the game.

The loss ends the Hornets’ season and snaps a seven-game win streak for Emmaus, which won its last five regular season games to earn the No. 4 seed for districts then won two playoff games.

“It was a hell of a ride,” said Fairclough. “It’s a good group of kids. They went on a run here at the end that we’re proud of. We didn’t play our best game tonight. They played very well on the other side.”

Parkland, which was the No. 3 seed in districts, moves on to the PIAA playoffs to face St. Joe’s Prep Friday at Pennridge High School.