Faced with a double-digit half time deficit, the Emery Spartans put together a stellar second half of football to top the American Leadership Academy Eagles 20-13 Friday night in Castle Dale.
“At half time we said let’s just get back to business, do your assignment and we’ll be just fine,” said head coach Jon Faimalo during the post game show on KOAL. “Now that we’ve tasted a victory hopefully we can take advantage of what the opposing teams give us.”
The first score of the game came from ALA quarterback Hyrum Morley as he reached the end zone on a 52-yard run on fourth-and-two on the game’s opening possession. The score remained 7-0 until the final seconds of the second quarter when Morley connected with Boden Johnson for a six-yard touchdown pass.
Despite playing even with ALA throughout the first two quarters the Spartans found themselves in a two-score hole at the break.
A timely, efficient drive ended Emery when quarterback Ryker Jensen found Josh Olsen for a 34-yard touchdown catch with 7:29 remaining in the third quarter. The touchdown seemed to ignite excitement for Emery on both sides of the ball.
“I think after our first score you saw the momentum of the kids build,” said Faimalo. “Once we got that first score and got the monkey off our back’s it was a different team.”
Defensively the Spartans began to make life miserable on Morley. Hayes Dalton, Braden Howard and Tristan Leroy all recorded one sack. ALA advanced the ball past the 50-yard line just one time in the final 24 minutes of play.
Emery took its first lead of the season with just 1:25 remaining in the third quarter. Junior Jace Curtis capped off an efficient drive with a six-yard touchdown run. Koalton Curtis added his second extra point to give the Spartans a 14-13 at the end of the third quarter.
While the Spartans continued to move the football with ease up and down the field in the fourth quarter, penalties halted two potential scoring drives. The difficulties came to an end when Curtis scored his second touchdown, this time on a 61-yard run to extend the lead to seven.
“Jace is a horse and does a great job running the ball,” said Faimalo. “I thought our line did a phenomenal job and I tip my hat to those kids. We ran that counter a ton and relied on it when we needed a play. So our lineman got on blocks and dominated both sides of the ball.”
Holding a 20-13 lead in the closing minutes, the Spartans had to rely on their defense to close out the game. The potential game tying drive came to an end when Olsen recorded a diving interception on Emery’s side of the field.
Friday’s win improves the Spartans to 1-2 on the season, while dipping ALA to 2-1.
Emery will now have an opportunity to climb to the .500 barrier with another home game on Friday, this time against the Union Cougars. After falling to Ogden in the opening contest of the season, the Cougars have rallied off back-to-back wins over Uintah and Grand.
Live coverage of Friday night’s non-region game will begin at 6:25 on KOAL 107.3 FM and 750 AM. Kick-off will follow shortly after at 7:00.
Listen to coach Jon Faimalo’s complete post game interview below: