Last Time They Met:
Easton put a damper on early season excitement for the Green Hornets by pasting them 35-7 at Cottingham. With Shane Simpson out of the game for most of the first half with muscle cramps on a sweltering early season evening, Dalvyn Reynolds took charge running for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Emmaus’s Andy Davidson ran for a 57 yard touchdown on the third play from scrimmage, but the Green Hornets were shutout for the final 46 minutes. An electric 70 yard punt return by Simpson early in the third quarter gave Easton a 35-7 lead and the back ups played most of the second half.
When Emmaus Has the Ball: Emmaus pounded out 422 yards rushing against East Stroudsburg North last week and there is no secret to the offense. Massive tailback Kyle Boney is the feature player in the offense. He missed much of last season with a broken tibia, but pre-injury was averaging 9.2 yards per carry. He picked up right where he left off, scoring six touchdowns and gaining 192 yards behind their monster line. Last week, Emmaus lined up in a full house backfield, had nine guys block for Boney, and let him pummel defenders. When they needed a change of pace, fullback Sal Pagano got the carries (on his way to a 100+ yard night). Easton’s entire front seven is in the 200-225 range, so they’re going to be at a size disadvantage getting off of blocks against Emmaus’s line that averages 250 across. Boney is 220+ and Pagano is a stout 5’9 205, so getting them to the second level where they can bolw over Easton’s smaller d-backs will be critical., Emmaus may also try to exploit Easton’s smaller defensive backs with 6’5 receiver Josh Artis and 6’5 tight end Kyle Carraher in the passing game, through neither caught a pass last week as even their aeriel attack was screens and flip outs to Boney and Pagano.
Last week, Easton was able to bottle up the Pleasant Valley running game. PV running back Austyn Borre is as talented as anybody in the back field, but the Bears do not have the same kind of talent and size on the offensive line. Easton will need the same kind of activity from their defensive line. Although they’re smaller, they’ve got great athletes on up front; Daloni Caldwell, Craig Stahlecker, and Ryan Greene are all multi-sport guys who can really move, and David Simmons is an FCS caliber d-end. Caldwell and Stahlecker in particular were all over the place last weekend and keyed the defensive performance. Easton was in a lot of nickel last week, though I’m not sure if that was a response to PV’s spread looks, or that’s the personnel they’re going to prefer this year. It’s not a big group in the secondary, but they’re plenty physical (particularly corner, Trevon Mills and safety Nate Moser) and they’re not going to hesitate to step up in run support. Easton will also need another big night from linebacker Corey Deemer, who had seven stops, three TFL, a sack, and a forced fumble last week. Emmaus will need to get a blocker on him at all times or he’ll blow up the run game and look for he and Pagano to meet in the hole more than once.
When Easton Has the Ball:
The Rovers sprint-out passing game hasn’t change much, but they clearly wanted to throw the ball down the field over the top of the defense last Friday. Early long completions to Mills (who looked like he could have big year at receiver) and Richard Tattoli helped open up the run game, where Easton used a lot of sprint draw with PV worried about the downfield passing game. Easton has a pair of scatbacks in Nysir Minney-Gratz and Katrell Thompson, and it’s a much less power oriented offense. Minney-Gratz showed flashes last year as the third running back and made the most of his first start on Friday, with 110 yards and a pair of touchdown runs, including a 59 yard burst that effectively sealed things early in the second half. At 5’7, 160 pounds, he’s not going to move the pile, but if he gets a crease he can really separate. Thompson also can fly as he showed on a long kickoff return and a 33 yard touchdown run on a toss play. In a perfect world, one or both would be playing that slot, Percy Harvin at Florida role, but that’s just not the way this works.
Defensively, Emmaus is going to dare Easton to throw. They have a significant size advantage over the Easton front, and are going to run blitz all day in hopes of overpowering the Rover offensive line and getting Minney-Gratz and Thompson before they become dangerous in the open field. They’ll put eight and nine guys in the box until it stops working. Pagano is the feature defender, and like Deemer, the Rovers will need to get a hat on him at all times. That responsibility could fall on Thompson, who’d be giving up 40 pounds, as he’s the up-back in a lot of Easton’s formations. It’s going to be a physical, slobber-knocker type football game which, strangely, Emmaus is more equipped for than Easton. The Green Hornets didn’t need their defensive backs at all last week against the triple-option, but they’ll need to contain Easton’s downfield passing game in hopes of making them one dimensional.
The Pick:
Emmaus has historically given Easton fits, and four of the best Easton teams of the modern era (2009, 2004, 1991, and 1978) either did not beat or struggled mightily with the Green Hornets. And Emmaus has been building for this season, where they have an experienced offensive line, a workhorse running back, and a firm grasp on Randy Cuthbert’s system. Still, the Rovers can really play defense, and defensive coordinator Doug Powell is the absolute master at teaching reads and shutting down power run teams. It’s going to be a violent, field position style game, but the good guys have won a couple of those through the years. Easton 21-14.
Easton put a damper on early season excitement for the Green Hornets by pasting them 35-7 at Cottingham. With Shane Simpson out of the game for most of the first half with muscle cramps on a sweltering early season evening, Dalvyn Reynolds took charge running for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Emmaus’s Andy Davidson ran for a 57 yard touchdown on the third play from scrimmage, but the Green Hornets were shutout for the final 46 minutes. An electric 70 yard punt return by Simpson early in the third quarter gave Easton a 35-7 lead and the back ups played most of the second half.
When Emmaus Has the Ball: Emmaus pounded out 422 yards rushing against East Stroudsburg North last week and there is no secret to the offense. Massive tailback Kyle Boney is the feature player in the offense. He missed much of last season with a broken tibia, but pre-injury was averaging 9.2 yards per carry. He picked up right where he left off, scoring six touchdowns and gaining 192 yards behind their monster line. Last week, Emmaus lined up in a full house backfield, had nine guys block for Boney, and let him pummel defenders. When they needed a change of pace, fullback Sal Pagano got the carries (on his way to a 100+ yard night). Easton’s entire front seven is in the 200-225 range, so they’re going to be at a size disadvantage getting off of blocks against Emmaus’s line that averages 250 across. Boney is 220+ and Pagano is a stout 5’9 205, so getting them to the second level where they can bolw over Easton’s smaller d-backs will be critical., Emmaus may also try to exploit Easton’s smaller defensive backs with 6’5 receiver Josh Artis and 6’5 tight end Kyle Carraher in the passing game, through neither caught a pass last week as even their aeriel attack was screens and flip outs to Boney and Pagano.
Last week, Easton was able to bottle up the Pleasant Valley running game. PV running back Austyn Borre is as talented as anybody in the back field, but the Bears do not have the same kind of talent and size on the offensive line. Easton will need the same kind of activity from their defensive line. Although they’re smaller, they’ve got great athletes on up front; Daloni Caldwell, Craig Stahlecker, and Ryan Greene are all multi-sport guys who can really move, and David Simmons is an FCS caliber d-end. Caldwell and Stahlecker in particular were all over the place last weekend and keyed the defensive performance. Easton was in a lot of nickel last week, though I’m not sure if that was a response to PV’s spread looks, or that’s the personnel they’re going to prefer this year. It’s not a big group in the secondary, but they’re plenty physical (particularly corner, Trevon Mills and safety Nate Moser) and they’re not going to hesitate to step up in run support. Easton will also need another big night from linebacker Corey Deemer, who had seven stops, three TFL, a sack, and a forced fumble last week. Emmaus will need to get a blocker on him at all times or he’ll blow up the run game and look for he and Pagano to meet in the hole more than once.
When Easton Has the Ball:
The Rovers sprint-out passing game hasn’t change much, but they clearly wanted to throw the ball down the field over the top of the defense last Friday. Early long completions to Mills (who looked like he could have big year at receiver) and Richard Tattoli helped open up the run game, where Easton used a lot of sprint draw with PV worried about the downfield passing game. Easton has a pair of scatbacks in Nysir Minney-Gratz and Katrell Thompson, and it’s a much less power oriented offense. Minney-Gratz showed flashes last year as the third running back and made the most of his first start on Friday, with 110 yards and a pair of touchdown runs, including a 59 yard burst that effectively sealed things early in the second half. At 5’7, 160 pounds, he’s not going to move the pile, but if he gets a crease he can really separate. Thompson also can fly as he showed on a long kickoff return and a 33 yard touchdown run on a toss play. In a perfect world, one or both would be playing that slot, Percy Harvin at Florida role, but that’s just not the way this works.
Defensively, Emmaus is going to dare Easton to throw. They have a significant size advantage over the Easton front, and are going to run blitz all day in hopes of overpowering the Rover offensive line and getting Minney-Gratz and Thompson before they become dangerous in the open field. They’ll put eight and nine guys in the box until it stops working. Pagano is the feature defender, and like Deemer, the Rovers will need to get a hat on him at all times. That responsibility could fall on Thompson, who’d be giving up 40 pounds, as he’s the up-back in a lot of Easton’s formations. It’s going to be a physical, slobber-knocker type football game which, strangely, Emmaus is more equipped for than Easton. The Green Hornets didn’t need their defensive backs at all last week against the triple-option, but they’ll need to contain Easton’s downfield passing game in hopes of making them one dimensional.
The Pick:
Emmaus has historically given Easton fits, and four of the best Easton teams of the modern era (2009, 2004, 1991, and 1978) either did not beat or struggled mightily with the Green Hornets. And Emmaus has been building for this season, where they have an experienced offensive line, a workhorse running back, and a firm grasp on Randy Cuthbert’s system. Still, the Rovers can really play defense, and defensive coordinator Doug Powell is the absolute master at teaching reads and shutting down power run teams. It’s going to be a violent, field position style game, but the good guys have won a couple of those through the years. Easton 21-14.