Emery Spartans down the Union Cougars for homecoming

By GARY ARRINGTON Sports writer

The Emery High Spartan football team finished their preseason schedule with a 36-0 victory over the Union High Cougars. The win gives the Spartans a 4-1 record. Emery is now preparing for the start of the region football wars as they travel to Richfield this Friday night.
The Spartans dominated this game, just as in the past several games, from start to finish. Emery had 430 yards of total offense while holding the Cougars to less than 200 yards.
Emery’s opening possession started at their 33-yard line and the Spartans almost methodically marched down the field only to see the drive stall inside the 5-yard line. Jade Fielder picked up 12 yards on the first two plays to get Emery to the 45-yard line. After an incomplete pass and a run for gain, Emery quarterback hit back Taylor Cox with a pass good for 18 yards. Cox picked up 17 yards on a run; Jones completed a 17-yard pass to Nick Stoddard to get Emery to the Union 6-yard line. Emery then ran the ball four times but was unsuccessful at scoring. Emery scored first though when they tackled the Union quarterback for a safety to go up 2-0.
After the first quarter ended with the Spartans up 2-0, Emery would score twice in the second quarter to lead 16-0 at the half. On Emery’s first scoring drive of the period, Emery started at their 9-yard line. Cox picked up five yards followed by Colton Fasselin picking up four yards. Cox then picked up 10 yards for another first down. After Fasselin picked up six yards and Jacob Tuttle picked up two yards, Jones connected with Stoddard again, but this time Stoddard broke loose and scored on the 64-yard play.
The next Emery drive started at their 12-yard line after Emery’s defense kept Union out of the end zone after a Cougar 58-yard drive. Cox picked up 18 yards on a run; Fasselin gained another 15 yards on a run. Fielder gained 10 yards on a pair of runs and Cox added another yard. Emery then scored on a 31-yard pass play from Stoddard to Kashe Potter. Quinn Montgomery added both extra points and Emery led at the half 16-0.
Emery added three more scores in the second half while the Spartan defense continued doing their job of keeping Union from scoring. In five second-half Cougar drives, Union picked up more than a 100 yards but two of those drives ended with turnovers.
Clay Collard recovered a Cougar fumble on the second drive and Potter intercepted a Cougar pass on the fourth drive. Collard led the Spartans in this game with 13 tackles from his inside linebacker position. Nathan Mecham, the other inside linebacker, finished the game with 10 tackles. Jesse Winn and Fasselin, Emery’s two outside linebackers, finished the game with nine and eight tackles respectively.
In the Spartan first second-half scoring drive, Jones capped a 55-yard drive with a 1-yard quarterback sneak. A Jones to Stoddard pass for 20 yards was the big play in the drive.
Emery’s next drive was a single play drive. After the Emery defense had stifled another drive, Emery took over the ball at midfield. Jones hit Potter on the first play and Potter made several nice moves as he avoided being tackled by the Cougars and scored.
Emery’s final scoring drive came on the very next Spartan drive. Starting at their 48-yard line, Emery capped the drive with another Jones to Potter pass and reception for a 10-yard touchdown. The big play in this drive was a Cox 38-yard run.
Taylor Cox, who had missed two practices in the week and was sick the day of the game, led the Spartans with 90 yards rushing on 13 carries. Fasselin picked up 51 yards on nine carries and Fielder gained 46 yards on eight carries. Emery had 220 yards on the ground. Cody Jones completed six passes in the game for 179 yards and three touchdowns. Nick Stoddard completed one pass for 31 yards and a touchdown. Stoddard caught three passes for 101 yards and Potter caught three passes for 91 yards. Cox caught one pass for 18 yards.
Emery plays Richfield in their first region contest. Richfield finished the preseason with a 5-0 record compared to Emery’s 4-1 record. The two teams played two common opponents. Richfield beat Canyon View 10-6 while Emery defeated the same opponent 42-13. Emery defeated Carbon 53-6 while Richfield defeated the Dinos 42-19.