Whitehall, PA - November 15, 2024: In the District XI 6A championship game Friday night, Parkland High School defeated Emmaus High School 17-3 to win their 12th title.
Parkland was led by the running duo of sophomore RB TJ Lawrence (1) and QB Osmany Guzman (4). Lawrence and Guzman each scored a touchdown on the ground while Parkland’s kicker Doug Bell (94) added a 30-yard field goal and two extra points.
Parkland won the coin toss and elected to defer. Emmaus took the opening kickoff but could not move the ball on offense. Emmaus went three and out on their first possession.
Parkland, starting at their 44-yard line after the punt, moved down the field behind the legs of Lawrence and Guzman. Guzman extended the drive on two occasions when in third and long via the quarterback draw or his scrambling. Parkland would stall out however when Emmaus’ defense was able to stop the run for losses. Bell would come in on 4th down and make the 30-yard field to give Parkland the early lead.
Since both teams were mostly running the ball, the first quarter went quick and each team had basically one possession.
Early in the 2nd quarter, Emmaus was moving the ball. They got into trouble when they were set back by a penalty and a sack by Parkland’s Julian Diaz (54). Facing a 3rd and 24, quarterback Jerek Cooper (4) scrambled and was taken down way short of the first down.
After both teams exchanged punts, and Emmaus was almost hit with a safety, Parkland went on offense. Lawrence went to work on the ground, and also caught a pass for a big play. Lawrence would eventually score on a 6-yard run late in the 2nd quarter.
Emmaus drove down the field just before the half and got to the 11-yard line but they had to settle for a field goal attempt. In a big momentum swing for Parkland heading into halftime, they blocked the kick by William Buck (84) and the teams went into the locker with Parkland up 10-0.
To start the 3rd, both teams went three and out on their first possession. Emmaus again could not move the ball on their second possession and they punted the ball back to Parkland.
Parkland’s Lawrence had a good punt return into Emmaus’ territory but it was called back due to a block in the back and Parkland instead started from their 16-yard line. It seemed possible Lawrence was shaken up on the punt return so Naquan Thomason (26) came in for Parkland and had some big runs to move Parkland once again into Emmaus’ territory.
Lawrence returned to the game and behind his and Guzman’s running, Parkland took it deep into Emmaus’ territory. On a key 3rd down and 3, Guzman kept the ball and got enough for a big first down to keep the drive alive. Guzman then scored from the 8-yard line, 17-0 Parkland heading into the 4th quarter.
Emmaus would be the only team to score in the 4th when Buck hit a 43-yard field goal to prevent the shutout.
Lawrence would carry the ball 18 times for 90 yards and have 2 catches for 29 yards. Guzman ran for 62 yards on 18 carries and Thomason added 65 yards on 9 carries. The big stat in the game however, would be that the Parkland defense held the Emmaus ball carriers to only 48 total yards, with Cooper having -16.
Although both teams have met many times in the past, with Parkland having the advantage 43-21-2, this was the first time they met in the District finals. After Emmaus shut out Parkland 27-0 on October 25th, during the regular season, and upended the #1 seed, Easton High School last week, they were the favorite to win their first title.
