The Emery High Spartans football team met the Lehi Pioneers on Friday in the homecoming battle. Lehi ended up on top with a score of 36-16.
The game began with a Lehi kickoff to Emery. Garrett Swenson returned the ball for the Spartans. Quarterback Bowie Jeffs started the Spartan’s offensive battle with an incomplete pass to Swenson. The second down play was a complete pass to Seth Powell for a gain of 9 yards. A short handoff to Josh Sharp was enough for an Emery 1st down. A long pass attempt from Jeffs to Brandon Hansen was incomplete. Jeffs connected with Swenson for a short gain. Another long pass attempt to Hansen was incomplete and Emery punted to end the series.
Lehi’s first drive of the game resulted in a short gain on the ground. The 2nd down, however, saw the Lehi Pioneer sprinting down field and ending up on the Emery 20 yard line. The Pioneers ran for a short gain on the ground and in the next play ran in for a touchdown and a successful point after to lead 7-0.
The Spartans started their next drive at the 20-yard-line after the Pioneer kick-off ended up in the endzone. An offside penalty against Lehi brought the Spartans 5-yards closer. A pass to Swenson went out of bounds and the next play was a pass to Sharp which was complete for a short gain. The play however also contained a hold for Emery and the ball was marched back 10 yards. Not to be deterred the Spartans complete a pass from Jeffs to Kadin Wilson for a large gain just 2-yards short of the first down. Lehi helped the Spartan cause with a dead ball foul which gave the Spartans their first down.
Jeffs does some scrambling on the next play and is bumped out of bounds. Powell catches the Jeffs pass in the next play for a gain of 9-yards. The Spartans jump and lose 5-yards but Jeffs connects with Swenson and completes the pass for a large gain and a 1st down on the Pioneer 20-yard-line. Two incomplete passes to Hansen and Swenson bring up 3rd and 10. Lehi has a pass interference call and helps the Spartans out. Jeffs scrambled around the backfield but his knee goes down and the Spartans start from there. Swenson catches the next pass but the officials said he did it out of bounds so this brings up 4th and long for the Spartans. Another incomplete pass gives the ball to Lehi on their 22-yard line. Lehi moved the ball 9-yards but then Chris Keller from the Spartans intercepts the Lehi pass on the next play. This interception puts Emery on their own 35-yard-line. A 1st down for the Spartans resulted after a Jeffs to Swenson pass was complete and Lehi had a face mask penalty.
Jeffs throws to Hansen but the pass is incomplete. The next down a pass is complete to Sharp along with a holding call on the Pioneers. The 1st quarter ends with the score 7-0 for the Pioneers. Sharp begins the 2nd quarter with a 15-yard gain up the middle. An incomplete pass to Swenson brings up 3rd and 10. The next play Hansen on a tight end counter pass completes a pass to Powell who runs it in for a touchdown. The Pioneers jump on the point after attempt for a dead ball foul and the ball is moved half the distance to the goal line and Sharp takes it in for the 2-point conversion. With 11:20 left in the 2nd quarter the score is Lehi-7 and Emery 8.
Lehi returns the Spartan kick to the 50-yard-line and the runner is met by Wilson. In the next play the Lehi runner is tackled by Hansen and Jake Jensen. Caleb Sitterud is injured on the play and returns to the sideline for Emery. Emery takes over on downs but their attempts go nowhere and they are forced to punt. Emery has a penalty on the punt and is forced to punt again. The punt return for Lehi brought them almost back to the point of the punt. A hold on Emery moves the Pioneers even closer and they run in for a touchdown as well as a 2-point conversion. The score stood at Lehi-15 and Emery-8 with 6:29 to go in the half.
The kickoff went into the endzone and the Spartans started their drive on the 20-yard-line. Emery fumbles the ball and Lehi recovered and took possession on Emery’s 20-yard-line. The Lehi drive is stopped short with tackles by Hansen and Sharp. Emery took over on downs with an incomplete 4th down pass attempt. Emery starts off on their 17-yard-line. Jeffs is sacked on the 1st down play. Swenson catches the next pass and digs for yardage. The next down was a huge play for the Spartans when Jeffs connects with Powell and he dashes down the sideline for a touchdown. The Pioneers jump on the point after attempt which brought about a 2-point conversion by Wilson. The score stood at Lehi-15 and Emery- 16 with 1:24 to go in the half. Emery recovered their own kickoff as the ball went the required yardage and then touched a Lehi player afterwhich it was jumped on by the Spartans. Their drive goes nowhere and Lehi takes over and with time running out they attempt a field goal which was not good.
The Pioneers start out the 3rd quarter with a quick touchdown to take the score to Lehi-21 Emery-16. The Spartans drive doesn’t go anywhere and Lehi takes the ball in for a touchdown on their possession and their quarterback converts for 2-points with 1:22 left in the 3rd quarter Lehi goes up 29-16. The Pioneers score again at the beginning of the 4th quarter to bring the score to 36-16. Emery completed several passes in the quarter but never enough to put them close enough to score and the tally at the games end was Lehi 36, Emery 16.
Lehi had 191 yards passing and 120 yards rushing for a total offense of 311 yards. Emery had minus 7 yards rushing and 200 yards passing for total offense of 193 yards. Bowie Jeffs was 15/36 for 183 yards passing with one touchdown and two interceptions. Garrett Swenson was 0/1 passing while Brandon Hansen was 1/1 for 17 yards and 1 touchdown passing.
Emery High offensive player of the game was Seth Powell, defensive player was Jake Jensen, lineman was TJ Saupan and special teams player was Cory Montgomery.
In Sophomore action on Thursday the Spartans lost 7-6 and the Junior Varsity lost 35-21 against the Pioneers.