After facing an early second half deficit the Emery Spartans scored 27-unanswered points to top the Carbon Dinos 34-12 in the 3A North region opener Friday evening in Price.
Senior Logan Cox scored two touchdowns and finished with 174 yards off of only 17 carries to pace the Spartans in the league victory. Kolton Butler hauled in four catches for 99 yards and also reached the end zone twice as Emery improved to 3-2 overall with their second consecutive win.
Despite entering the contest winless on the season, the Dinos showed improvement as the offense racked up over 200 yards for the game. Junior Nathan Olson led the unit with 106 yards and a touchdown on 23 rushes.
Coming up empty handed on two straight red zone visits to the start the game, the Spartans scored first as Logan Cox executed a 49-yard touchdown run with 3:40 to play in the opening half to open a 7-0 lead.
The Dinos wasted no time answering with an efficient drive capped off with five yard touchdown pass from Triton Abeyta to Izaac Sanchez. After failing to convert the PAT, the Dinos entered half time trailing 7-6.
Carbon managed to capture their only lead of the contest just 46 seconds into the second half as Olson scored on a 51-yard run around the right end. Once again the Dinos failed to convert the point after, this time failing on a two-point conversion.
Emery responded on the ensuing possession as Kolton Butler took a short pass from quarterback Zac Jorgensen for a 64-yard touchdown. The go-ahead score marked the longest pass play of the year for the Spartans.
With the lead in hand the Emery defense took over, forcing Carbon into a three-and-out. Starting the next drive in Carbon territory, the Spartans wasted no time adding to their advantage as Logan Cox finished the possession with a four yard touchdown run.
Entering the fourth quarter with a 21-12 advantage the Spartans put the game out of reach as Jorgensen recorded his second touchdown pass, this time on a fade route to the left corner of the end zone to Butler. The 20-yard touchdown pass gave Emery a wide 27-12 lead with only 10:26 to play in the game.
Jorgensen connected with Butler on all four of his completions to record 99 yards and two scores and rushed for 23 yards while playing turnover free football. Tel Gardner finished with 35 yards on the ground off of 10 carriers and KC Jones ended with 23 yards.
Filling in for sophomore quarterback Noah Jones, Triton Abeyta finished 4-9 through the air for 30 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Collin Lewis helped provide a spark out the backfield with 40 yards off of four carries.
Now 1-0 in league play the Spartans will look for their third consecutive win as they travel on the road to meet Morgan on Friday. The Dinos will look to record their first win with a trip to Grantsville.
Friday’s win marks the 14th consecutive for Emery in the rivalry as they hold on to the coveted coal bucket for at least another season. Carbon has not beat Emery since 2000, and has only held the traveling coal bucket trophy twice.