A competitive first half turned one-sided as the Emery Spartans fell to 0-2 on the season with a 43-6 loss to the North Sanpete Hawks Friday night in Castle Dale.

Faced with a 16-0 deficit entering the second half, the Spartans were unable to move the football with efficiency. North Sanpete pulled away by scoring 21 in the third stanza, making the fourth quarter a formality.

“I thought our kids battled hard and it was just some of the little stuff in that third quarter,” said Faimalo. “That’s a good team over there. They created some turnovers and we struggled offensively throughout the second half.”

Trailing 2-0 at the end of the first quarter, the Spartans continued to make the game interesting with several key plays defensively. Sophomore Jace Curtis recorded two interceptions, one coming on the opening drive inside the five yard line.

The tide began to turn in the second quarter as North Sanpete took advantage of multiple big plays to gain a two score lead. Scoring on the first three possessions of the third quarter the Hawks put the game out of reach.

Making his first start at quarterback senior Seth Justice logged a solid performance. Connecting on 18-of-30 attempts, he finished with 170 yards. The lone touchdown of the game came on a fly route to Jeremy Brannon, who took the reception 60 yards for a score.

“I thought he did a good job and made the right reads,” said Faimalo. “For the most part he might the right adjustments. Seth is a smart kid and I thought he did a good job managing what we had.”

The majority of Emery’s production came through the air as the offense struggled to create a consistent rushing attack. As a team the Spartans finished with 29 yards rushing, 10 of which came from senior Jaymes Bowman.

Still in search of the their first victory of the season, the Spartans will return to the field on Friday with a road contest with American Leadership Academy. Live coverage of the non-region game will begin at 6:30 p.m. On KOAL 107.3 FM and 750 AM, followed by kick-off at 7:00.