On Oct. 19 the Emery High School football season came to an end as the team suffered a 21-7 loss to the Richfield Wildcats in the opening round of the 3A State Championship Tournament.

The playoff road loss falls in line with a number of games in which Emery not only played competitive football, but also positioned themselves to win. Despite scoring just seven points in the setback the Spartans doubled Richfield in yards and first downs, but also committed six turnovers throughout the game.

“We probably executed our game plan to a T. We just couldn’t finish drives,” said head coach Jon Faimalo on KOAL’s Drive Time Sports. “We took up a lot of game clock in the first half, but ended up with zero points, and that was the big momentum shift.”

Finishing the season with a 1-9 record in year two under Faimalo, the Spartans flashed signs of brilliance throughout the season. In fact, the offense posted a higher average of points per game in 2017 than in 2016. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the red zone woes carried over from last season.

Entering region 3A North play with an 0-4 record the Spartans proved their ability in a 35-33 loss to the Judge Memorial Bulldogs in the division opener. Trailing 35-19 at half time, the defense shutout Judge in the final 24 minutes. Clock mismanagement worked against the team late and a potential game winning field sailed right as time expired.

“We were competitive in the majority of the games we were in, but competitive doesn’t win ball games,” said Faimalo. “We were probably half a dozen plays away from a five win season instead of a one win season. We’ve got to learn to execute well in order to win games.”

It didn’t take long for Emery to rebound from the disappointing loss to Judge. The very next week kicker Brock Winter converted a 27-yard field goal to defeat longtime rival Carbon 19-16. The win improved the team to 1-5, but would be the only victory of the season.

After back-to-back losses to Morgan and Union the Spartans still had an outside chance to host the first round of the state playoffs as they entered the final week of the regular season. Once again showing the ability to play with any team in the classification, Emery fell short in a 21-13 thriller that ended with a turnover with roughly 2:00 left in regulation.

Offensively the Spartans were led by junior quarterback Kyson Stilson who completed 61-percent of his passes for 1,745 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. Stilson found comfort with senior wing back Colton Willson, who accounted for 647 yards, three touchdowns and 52 catches.

While the passing game was more relevant than in year’s past, junior Rance Jensen forced opposing teams to respect the rushing attack. Averaging just over four-yards per carry Jensen just missed out on a 1,000 season, but reached the end zone four times on the ground.

Emery will say goodbye to several key seniors, including lineman Drake Hoffman, Landon Fairbanks, Tayvan Cook and A.C. Reeve. The Spartans will also lose skill position players Easton Gordon, Jared Snow and Willson. While the amount of seniors is relatively small, the impact may be difficult to replace.

“The number of starters we’ll have to replace won’t be as big as last year, but those holes we have to fill are big ones,” Faimalo said. “Three out of the five offensive lineman will come back, along with our quarterback and running back. So we have some things to build on, but definitely some big shoes to fill.”

This year’s team also features an Academic All-State recipient in Fairbanks. Despite missing the first couple of weeks with an injury he managed to add depth and consistency in the trenches on both sides of the ball. While the wins were limited this season, Faimalo considers the off field accomplishments to be great.

“You can measure success with wins and losses, but at the end of the day we’ve had some great kids come through the program the last couple of years,” Faimalo said. “I’m proud of the things they continue to accomplish on and off the field, and as a coach you just hope you can teach life lessons they’ll continue use.”

Listen to coach Faimalo’s complete season wrap up interview here: