Despite a competitive first half of football the Emery Spartans were unable to keep pace with the Richfield Wildcats, falling 42-9 in the season opener Friday night.

Brock Winter connected on a 40-yard field goal to give Emery a 3-0 lead in the first quarter of the season. From that point on the Wildcats dominated by scoring the next 42 points of the game to pull away for good.

Richfield standout quarterback Emmit Hafen delivered three touchdown passes through the air and added another on the ground to lead the high-powered attack. Hafen connected with three different receivers on each of his scoring throws.

The win for Richfield comes in the first game of new head coach Jason Hitchens, who replaced former head coach Eric Thorson late in the off-season.

Szion Gibson recorded the only touchdown of the evening for the Spartans, scoring on a 12-yard run in the fourth quarter. Emery had several efficient drives throughout the contest, but failed to come away with points on multiple occasions.

Emery has now lost five consecutive games to the Wildcats, with the last win coming in August of 2012. The two teams met twice last season, both highly competitive games ending in favor of Richfield.

Emery will look to log its first win of the football season with a trip to Grand in the second of four non-region tilts this Friday. Live coverage will begin on KOAL 107.3 FM and 750 AM at 6:30 p.m., followed by kickoff at 7:00.