The Emery Spartans were in Blanding on Wednesday night for the final game of the regular season. In a game that the Spartans were outgunned early, they would fall 49-0.

The Spartans 1-9 overall and 1-4 in region play, were up against one of the best teams in 3A in San Juan. Tyler Stilson, sophomore quarterback for Emery would go 10/22 for 167 yards and senior Seth Justice would go 2/7 for 20 yards on a night when the Spartans just couldn’t find a rhythm. The tandem of seniors Szion Gibson and Jaymes Bowman would only be able to rush for 52 yards and sophomore Jace Curtis would carry the rock for 24 yards on 9 carries. Receivers Szion Gison would have three catches for 87 yards and sophomore Josh Olsen would collect three for 45.

 

San Juan was an offensive juggernaut in this game. Shaw Nielson threw for 281 yards and one touchdown, he also ran for two in this game. Nielson is ranked third in the state across all divisions with 2,621 passing yards this season. The ground game was led by Kian Conway who rushed for 193 yards and four scores. Conway like Nielson is also ranked third with 1,252 yards.

The Spartans could never get things going in this game and now the waiting game starts. Emery will now wait until Saturday, the final RPI will be released on October 19 and then they will find out where or if they will be playing in the 3A State Championship Tournament that will begin next weekend.

This year the state of Utah switched to a system called the RPI, or Rating Percentage Index. The ranking will take into account a teams winning percentage, their opponents winning percentage and their opponents opponents winning percentage. And then the final numbers are used to rank all the teams in playoff standings.

Check back with Castle Country Radio for the latest updates on the State Championship Tournament.