By Jose Briseno, Castle Country Radio:
The Carbon Dinos and the Emery Spartans squared off Friday night for the latest edition of the Coal Bowl.
The Emery Spartans got things started early with a quick touchdown and never looked back in a 42-20 win over the Dinos.
Junior quarterback Wade Stilson connected with fellow junior Creek Sharp for a 40-yard touchdown on a flea-flicker to get the Spartans on the board first.
Carbon quickly responded three plays later on a 64-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Wyatt Falk to senior wide receiver Jerden Alderson to tie the game at 7-7 with 8:51 left in the first quarter.
Emery did not take long to regain the lead as the Spartans embarked on a three-minute drive to put themselves back into the driver’s seat, 14-7 on a 25-yard touchdown run by Creek Sharp.
The Dinos and Spartans held strong defensively for the rest of the first quarter, and near the end of the second, Carbon’s defense forced Emery into three consecutive turnovers to close out the half and keep the score 14-7 in favor of Emery.
To start the second half, both teams were forced to punt before Emery started a streak of 14 unanswered points. Stilson found junior receiver Matt Olsen wide open in the back of the endzone to take a 21-7 lead. An interception by Emery senior Sebastian Hennes set up another connection between Stilson and Olsen, this time from 20 yards out, to make the score 28-7.
Carbon stopped the scoring drought at the beginning of the fourth quarter on an eight-yard touchdown run by Falk to cut the Spartan lead to 28-13.
Stilson and the Spartans, however, would put the final nail in the coffin on back-to-back touchdown drives to put the game officially out of the Dino’s reach. Stilson once again found Creek Sharp for a touchdown from nine yards out. Stilson then found a streaking Treg Miller in the corner of the endzone to put the Spartans up 42-13.
Carbon made one last hurrah as senior receiver Cole Cripps made an incredible juggling circus catch to give the Dinos their third score of the night.
Wade Stilson went 26-37 in the air for 288 yards and five touchdowns. Dane Sitterud led the Spartans rushing attack with 129 yards on 23 carries as the Spartans rushed for 168 yards in the game. Treg Miller was the leading receiver with 110 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions. Creek Sharp finished with 105 yards and two touchdowns on nine receptions. Finally, Matt Olsen finished the night with an effective 26 yards and two touchdowns on just two catches.
For the Dinos, Wyatt Falk tallied 292 yards on 15-25 passing and two touchdowns. Falk also recorded an interception, lost fumble and a rushing touchdown. Trevor Worley led the Dinos rushing attak with 23 yards on eight carries as the Dinos ran for 41 yards. Jerden Alderson led the team with 120 yards and a touchdown on 4 receptions while Cole Cripps added 76 yards and a touchdown on two receptions.
Next week, the 2-2 Spartans will stay home for their conference opener as the South Summit Wildcats will make the trip to Castle Dale.
The 2-3 Carbon Dinos will take the drive to Manti next week to take on the Templars in their region opener.
Both pre-game shows will begin at 6:30 pm (Carbon on KRPX 95.3 and Emery on KOAL 750AM and 107.3 FM). Kick-offs are scheduled for 7:00 pm.
**Emery stock photo by Dallin Grant.