The Emery Spartans completed the 2021 regular season with a hard fought 27-14 loss to the Summit Academy Bears Friday night in Castle Dale.
Competing to secure sole possession of second place in the 2A North, the Spartans fought back from a 14-0 deficit to climb within six points in the fourth quarter. An efficient drive to capture the lead stalled out at the four-yard line, eventually leading to the 13 point setback.
“I thought our kids continued to play and worked themselves out of an early hole,” said head coach Jon Faimalo. “I credit our kids for defensively really buckling down to get us in the game. Offensively we had moments, but when we needed it we had too many turnovers.”
Entering Friday’s tilt with a three-game winning streak, the Spartans sputtered offensively in the first quarter, while also giving up a 98-yard touchdown pass on Summit Academy’s first offensive play from scrimmage. Within the first minute of the second quarter the Bears added another score as they threatened to pull away.
Faced with adversity the Spartans began to rally on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Ryker Jensen connected with junior Treg Miller for a 20 yard touchdown pass to chop the deficit to 14-7 entering the third quarter.
Summit Academy held control as quarterback Devin Watson found receiver Russell Oliver for a three-yard touchdown pass with 6:50 remaining in the third. The Spartans immediately answered on the ensuing possession as Jensen finished off an efficient drive with a one-yard quarterback sneak to bring Emery within six.
Nearing the midway point in the fourth quarter and trialing by just six points, the Spartans marched down the field. The go-ahead-drive fell short with back-to-back incomplete passes on third and fourth down from the Summit Academy four-yard line.
The Bears put the game on ice as Watson delivered his fourth touchdown pass of the evening to Chance Arbon with 3:38 remaining in regulation.
“We’ve got to find that key victory for us to get over the hump and I think our kids are looking for that,” said Faimalo. “Today was a perfect time to do that and we gave it our best shot. We are getting there, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
Emery senior running back Jace Curtis continued to dazzle in just his third game of the season as he ran for 103 yards, averaging close to 4 yards per carry. Jensen accumulated 183 yards through the air, connecting with Miller for 97 yards on the evening.
Friday’s loss dips Emery to 5-5 overall and 3-2 in region play, giving the team sole possession of third place in the final division standings. The win improves Summit Academy to 6-4 overall and 4-1 in league play, finishing second to South Summit.
With the regular season now complete the Spartans will await the release of the Utah High School Activities Association’s final RPI. The 12 2A teams will be seeded for the state tournament, with the top four seeds receiving a bye in the opening round.
Stay tuned to Castle Country Radio for the 2A rankings and brackets Saturday morning.