Turnovers can't keep Whitehall from beating Emmaus again

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Chris Polony shook his head as he recalled a night of mixed results.

Emmaus intercepted him four times Friday, a nightmare number for any quarterback. He still managed to deliver when Whitehall needed him late.

Polony's back-to-back completions of 10 and 11 yards late in the third quarter keyed a drive he capped in the fourth quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run. The Zephyrs protected the lead the rest of the way to pull out a 21-13 win over the Green Hornets in the Lehigh Valley Conference football opener for both teams.


Polony ran 14 times for 79 yards and two touchdowns, trumping his passing production (11-for-21 for 76 yards, one touchdown and four picks). Eric Fiore added 22 carries for 92 yards as Whitehall (2-0 overall, 1-0 LVC) beat Emmaus (1-1, 0-1) for the third time in the last two seasons.

"Whatever I can do to just help this offense, I'm going to do it," Polony said. "Whether it's giving the ball to Eric or just running myself, either way I'm just trying to put up points."

Said Fiore: "We always battle with them. They always have 11 hats to the ball and are very physical. They know how to play defense against us. To come out with this win is big for us."

Whitehall's final scoring drive came after Emmaus used Nick Billera's 20-yard interception return to pull within 14-13 with 3:55 to play in the third quarter. The Green Hornets missed the extra point, one of many miscues that kept them from overtaking Whitehall.

Emmaus finished with nine penalties for 94 yards. The timing of the penalties proved crushing.

The Green Hornets committed a personal foul when Whitehall was facing a third-and-21 late in the second quarter, keeping them from getting the ball back. They committed another personal foul on Whitehall's final scoring drive, giving the Zephyrs 15 yards after Polony hit Tyler Artim (four catches, 39 yards) for 10 yards on a third-and-eight play.

"We were plus-four [in turnover margin] and we lost," Emmaus coach Joe Bottiglieri said. "We had too many penalties last week and this week we had more. Our execution got better on offense. We were better on defense than we were last week. We did some good things. But we were plus-four and we lost. That's not good."

While Emmaus' defense delivered turnovers, Whitehall's defense stifled the Green Hornets. The Zephyrs surrendered just 23 passing yards and one offensive touchdown.

Mason Spangler ran seven times for 71 yards, and Joe Williams added eight carries for 39 yards to pace Emmaus. They could not come up with enough big plays to overtake the Zephyrs.

"You feel better as a coach when you turn the ball over four times and still win than you do when the other team turns it over six times and you win," Whitehall coach Tony Trisciani said. "We earned this win, and I'm real proud of the way we earned it. We earned it with great defense and some execution on offense."

Emmaus0760—13

Whitehall7077— 21

FIRST QUARTER

W – Tyler Artim 6 pass from Chris Polony (Josh Cirocco kick) 4:44 (Drive: 16 plays, 60 yards, 7:16)

SECOND QUARTER

E – Patrick Kender 15 pass from Nate Fick (Taylor Milheim kick) 3:12 (Drive: 4 plays, 34 yards, 2:08)

THIRD QUARTER

W – Polony 8 run (Cirocco kick) 7:50 (Drive: 7 plays, 46 yards, 2:13)

E – Nick Billera 20 interception return (kick failed) 3:55



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
» Breaking news alerts delivered to your mobile phone. Text NEWS to 52270!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


FOURTH QUARTER

W – Polony 3 run (Cirocco kick) 11:32 (Drive: 9 plays, 60 yards, 4:23)

TEAM STATISTICSEW

First downs820

Rushes-yards28-15139-176

Passing yards2376

Comp-Att-Int4-11-011-21-4

Punts-average4-341-32

Fumbles-lost0-00-0

Penalties-yards9-942-20

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING — E: Spangler 7-71; Jo. Williams 8-39; Fick 6-25; Velasco 4-14; Billera 3-2. W: Fiore 22-92; Polony 14-79; Harris 3-5.

PASSING — E: Fick 4-10-0-23-1 TD; Jo. Williams 0-1-0-0. W: Polony 11-21-4-76-1 TD.

RECEIVING — E: Kender 2-9-1 TD; Watkins 1-14; Spangler 1-0. W: Artim 4-39-1 TD, Harris 3-6; Hoenl 2-25; Frana 1-7; Fiore 1-(-1).

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-football-whitehall-0910-20100910,0,5745289.story?page=2