The Emery Spartans were unable to slow down the lethal rushing attack of the Grantsville Cowboys in a 56-22 loss Friday night in Castle Dale.

Playing for a chance to move up in the 3A North standings, the Spartans trailed 21-0 early on in the contest. Despite a spirited effort offensively, Emery was unable to trim much of the deficit in the regular season finale loss.

Quarterback Kyson Stilson delivered three touchdown passes to three separate players to lead Emery. Jaymes Bowman, Seth Justice and Quinton Sorenson each found the end zone once.

“We dug ourselves a hole early and that made things tough,” said head coach Jon Faimalo. “We were able to make some plays. I thought Kyson (Stilson) played well and with a few surprises on special teams we were better from the second quarter on.”

Defensively Emery failed to contain standout running back Parker Thomas, who ran for over 200 yards and five touchdowns. Thomas scored the first two touchdowns of the game, including a game-best 47-yard run to open up a 14-0 lead.

Friday’s loss dips Emery to 1-4 in region play and 1-8 overall. While the offense has had its fair share of struggles this season, Friday provided several positives both on the ground, and through the air.

“Offensively it was one of our best games by far this season,” said Faimalo. “Defensively we got a little overwhelmed. But offensively we made some plays we needed to, which feels good going into the playoffs.”

Locked in as the No. 5 seed from the 3A North, the Spartans will now travel to Juab on Wednesday for the opening round of the 3A State Championship Tournament. Juab enters the No. 4 seed from the 3A South after accumulating a region record of 2-3.

Live coverage of Wednesday’s contest will begin on KOAL 107.3 FM and 750 AM at 4:30 p.m.. Kick-off will follow shortly after at 5:00 p.m.. Audio will also be available online at castlecountryradio.com.