http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/
FROM KEITH GROLLER
The maintenance guy at Emmaus was packing things up late Friday night in the East Penn School District Stadium press box and asked me if I thought the Green Hornets would get the chance to play another home game this season.
I said: "There's a good chance of an Eastern Conference playoff berth, so yeah."
But as I go into my three things to take away from my night in Emmaus, the truth is, I believe the Green Hornets should be in the subregional tournament -- the one that feeds into the state playoffs.
I have seen Emmaus in person three times now and they are 3-0 in those games with wins over Freedom, Easton and Nazareth. It is not a great team with unbelievable skill-position talent like Parkland, but it's a rugged, hard-nosed squad in the mold of new coach Randy Cuthbert.
Their three losses are by a combined 21 points. They would love to have either of the heartbreaking losses to Pennridge and Becahi in the first two weeks back. Had they won either one, they'd probably in the District11-4-2 subregional.
They still have a chance to get in, but they need to beat Parkland at Parkland. I don't think that will happen, but I would be shocked if the Trojans rolled up a big win as they did last year in a rare late Saturday afternoon game caused by Hurricane Sandy at EPSD Stadium. I expect a competitive game next Friday in Orefield.
Here's my three things:
1. Emmaus has good, solid, tough kids. I've said this before, but the old Green Hornets image was that they had good kids, but lacked that certain toughness that a Whitehall, Parkland or Easton possessed. That is no longer the case. These kids come to hit and play physical football and that's the mentality that Cuthbert, a Central Bucks West product, has brought to the southwest corner of Lehigh County. Cuthbert knew that while Nazareth had some explosive offensive players and an edge in speed, Emmaus was better in the trenches and that's why it was a ground-oriented attack that paved the way for Friday night's win over Nazareth.
It also helps Cuthbert that he has some veteran coaches around him. You don't get more quality experience than with people like Sam Senneca, Stan Luckenbill and Keith Brader.
2. The future is bright at Emmaus. I keep hearing about an unbeaten middle school team and some very talented kids coming up from the youth program. There are no certainties in high school sports, but clearly football still is important at Emmaus and while the program is successful across the board in things like soccer, field hockey, golf, volleyball, etc. it won't take a backseat in football. We have heard from some reliable people that Emmaus will remain playing basically the same people it has always played in the new-look Lehigh Valley Conference (still not sure if the name will remain the same).
In football, they will still be with Parkland, Central Catholic, Whitehall, Easton, Freedom, Liberty, Northampton and Nazareth. In other sports, they will be in one of the three six-team divisions with CCHS, Parkland, Whitehall, Northampton and Nazareth. The other will feature Allen, Dieruff, Freedom, Liberty, Becahi and Easton.
No matter what division they're in, expect the Emmaus athletic program to remain one of the area's most successful across the board.
3. Finally, with last night probably marking my last appearance in the East Penn School District press box until next season, I want to thank AD Dennis Ramella and the guys in the box -- Carl Smartschan, Dan Wessner and timer of the year candidate Chris Ritter (seen smiling in the photo below) for all of their hospitality and courtesy throughout the year. They make these Friday nights enjoyable. These guys love what they do. They enjoy being involved with the local sports scene and doing the best job possible for the fans and the kids.
Chris especially went above and beyond last night. Reading my blog yesterday and knowing it was my wife's birthday and I would be at Emmaus, Chris put on the stadium message board a message that "Keith Groller of The Morning Call would like to wish his wife a happy birthday!" It was a very nice gesture and one I made sure my wife knew about after the game, even if I couldn't take credit for the idea. Very kind gesture from a real good guy.
And speaking of really good guys, Jim Vaughan of WFMZ-TV and the "Big Ticket" helped me out by recording the scoreboard message so I could show my wife. Jim is another gem.
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