The Delta Rabbits used their special teams to rally past the Emery Spartans for a thrilling 9-6 victory Friday night in Castle Dale.

With 2:35 remaining in the game and the score tied 6-6, Delta’s Sam Clark easily connected on a 30-yard field goal to give the Rabbits their first lead. Moments later Delta blocked Ethan Winter’s 35-yard potential game tying field goal in the closing seconds to secure the win.

“In the close games you find out if you are a good coach and how the players react,” said Emery head coach Jon Faimalo. “We’re learning and we are getting better, and we found that out tonight.”

Locked in a defensive battle throughout the contest, the Spartans broke the scoreless tie as Zac Jorgensen connected with Kolton Butler on a 21-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. A missed PAT kept the Spartans advantage at six.

The score remained 6-0 until the third quarter when Delta quarterback Jake Day found running back Reygan Riding on a seven-yard touchdown pass. The Rabbits controlled the field position for most of the fourth quarter before connecting on the go-ahead score.

On the final drive of the game for the Spartans senior Logan Cox scored on a 35-yard touchdown run that was called back because of illegal motion. Throughout the game Emery was penalized 10 times for 95 yards.

“We shot ourselves in the foot initially with penalties and other mistakes throughout the game,” said Faimalo. “We’re going to hold our heads high and work on some of the little things that will hopefully put us over the top.”

Jorgensen completed 9-18 passes for 79 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Senior deep back Dalton McKee logged a team high 65 yards off of only carries to push the rushing attack that was held mostly intact.

The Spartans will look to get back on track Friday when they play host to the non-region finale against the Manti Templars. After falling to Juan Diego and Pine View over the past two weeks, the Templars will enter the game with an identical 1-2 record.

Loading...