A heroic tackle by Emery High School senior Hayden Abrams froze the scoreboard at 21-20, pushing the Spartans past the Union Cougars Friday night in Castle Dale.
Moments after scoring a potential game-tying touchdown, Union head coach Dustin Long elected to go for the win. With the game on the line, the Emery defense brought the home crowd to its feet as Abrams stopped Union quarterback Dylan Murphy shy of the goal line.
“That was huge, and he’s a gamer,” said head coach Jon Faimalo following the win. “I’m glad he (Abrams) is on our team, and I’m glad he likes to hit. It’s a big play to win a great game.”
Emery broke the fourth-quarter tie as Jaxon Johnson scored on a seven-yard run with 6:32 remaining. The Cougars used a marathon drive to go the length of the field in six minutes, setting up the dramatic two-point conversion.
Both teams enjoyed the lead at various parts of the game. Competitive throughout, the Spartans broke the scoreless tie with 4:33 remaining in the first half as quarterback Trevin Gilbert connected with Braxton Butler on a 21-yard touchdown pass. Union limited the damage by blocking the point after, keeping the deficit at six.
Union responded with an impressive drive, capped off by Murphy’s 10-yard touchdown toss to Tanner Womack. The extra point gave the Cougars a 7-6 lead entering the break.
The Spartans jumped back in front as Boden Christman crossed the goal line on a one-yard run. A two-point conversion run from Butler out of the slot gave Emery a seven-point edge.
“For us, it was an easy call to go for two in that situation,” said Faimalo. “I felt like if we waited, we might not get another opportunity. For us, just looking at it, we needed to get points to get even. It was a defensive ball game, and both teams were taking lots of clock.”
Emery’s seven-point lead was short-lived as the Cougars managed to draw even on a four-yard quarterback keeper from Murphy with 10:13 left in regulation. Both teams scored on their next drives to set up the intense conclusion.
A week after a poor performance from the ground attack, the Spartans moved the ball efficiently on the ground. Christman broke the 100-yard barrier, accumulating 120 yards on 15 carries to go along with one touchdown. Johnson worked as a perfect second option, finishing with 52 yards on 10 carries while also crossing the goal line once.
The improvement in the run game allowed Gilbert to pick his spots through the air in his second start as the varsity starting quarterback. After completing 14 of 16 passes, Gilbert ended up with 116 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.
Friday’s game was delayed for nearly an hour as lightning strikes in the vicinity extended the pre-game warmups. As both teams went back to the locker rooms prior to kick-off, Faimalo said his coaching staff made sure to try to keep his team focused.
The Spartans are now 2-0 for the second consecutive season. A win next Friday will give the program its first 3-0 start since 2002.
Standing in Emery’s way is Enterprise, the same team that prevented a 3-0 Emery start last season with a 34-20 win.
“That game last year left a bad taste in our mouths, for sure,” said Faimalo. “I didn’t forget about it, and I don’t think our kids forgot about it. Hopefully we show up and do what we need to do to get another win.”
Relive the excitement from Friday’s game with the on-demand replay HERE.