The Emery Spartans were unable to overcome a powerful defensive performance from the Summit Academy Bears, suffering a season-ending 37-14 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2A State Tournament Friday night in Bluffdale.

Entering as the No. 5 seed, the Spartans squared off with the No. 4 Bears for the second time in three weeks. In similar fashion to the first meeting, Emery struggled to find consistency on the offensive side of the ball.

Trailing 20-0 in the closing seconds of the first half the Spartans scored for the first time as Jace Curtis found the end zone on a 28-yard touchdown run. Emery would receive the ball to start the second half and despite an opportunity to cut the lead to one score, the offense was unable to keep the rhythm found in the second quarter.

Back-to-back stalled out drives ended up favoring Summit Academy as quarterback Devin Watson found Chance Arbon on a broken play that went for a 32-yard touchdown. Moments later the Bears pushed the lead to 23 with a 42 yard field goal.

Both teams would cross the goal line one more time in the final quarter. Senior quarterback Ryker Jensen registered one last touchdown as he found fellow senior Jace Mangum on a 14-yard touchdown pass.

Jensen wrapped up his football career at Emery by completing 15-of-30 passes for 166 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Colton Jeffs hauled in three passes for 45 yards to lead all Emery receivers, while Jace Curtis caught three passes for 44 yards.

Curtis turned in a well rounded game statistically as he finished with 89 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Josh Olsen carried the ball three times in his return from injury for a total of 12 net yards.

Summit Academy was fairly one dimensional offensively as Watson completed 24-of-45 passes for 283 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Arbon led all receivers with 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns on six receptions.

Friday’s loss brings an end to a highly successful season for the Spartans after finishing region play with a winning record. Overcoming several key injuries early in the season, the team won three consecutive games to climb inside the top five of the RPI.

The win for Summit Academy places them one step closer to the 2A State Championship contest. Next will be a meeting with No. 1 San Juan Saturday, Nov. 6 in Cedar City at Southern Utah University.

Stay tuned to Castle Country Radio for a complete season recap of the 2021 Emery High School football season.