Eagles soar over Emery Spartans

By GARY ARRINGTON Sports writer

Juan Diego, ranked first by one Salt Lake newspaper and second by the other, traveled to Castle Dale last Friday night and showed the Emery Spartans why they have a legitimate shot at a state title this season. They won the football game 41-6. Juan Diego is undefeated this season and the games have not been close.
Emery started off well and actually won the first quarter 6-0. Unfortunately, Emery had to play the rest of the game. Emery was outscored 28-0 in the second quarter, 7-0 in the third quarter and 6-0 in the final period.
In that first period, Emery held Juan Diego on defense in the opening drive of the game. Juan Diego returned the kick-off to their own 47-yard line and they saw their drive stall at the Emery 25-yard line as the Spartans held on fourth and four.
On Emery’s first possession, they traveled the 75 yards for the touchdown and secured their only lead of the ball game. After Chance Ariotti ran the ball for no gain, quarterback Gatlan Huntington hit Dusty Jensen with a pass and they netted 34 yards after the play was through.
After another couple or short runs and a pass interference call against the Eagle defense, Huntington hit wide receiver Tanner Procarione in the right corner of the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown pass. The kick was blocked.
From this point forward, the bigger Juan Diego team showed those at the game why they are highly ranked. They scored four times in the next five possessions to put the game away. They usually started their drives in Emery territory while the Spartans usually started their drives deep in their own territory.
Dusty Jensen, a starting cornerback, started at wing back for Emery and led the Spartans with three runs for 32 yards besides having that reception. Emery finished the game with 79 rushing yards and 64 passing yards. Juan Diego finished with 396 yards of offense.
After the game, Head Coach Jimmy Jones talked about the game, “Our kids played their guts out, they gave it all they had. Sometimes a bigger, faster team just wears you down.”
Emery now travels to Delta this Friday night to take on another ranked and undefeated team. The Rabbits defeated Carbon last Friday night 54-0 to post another shutout. Delta has not been scored on this season by a Utah high school. Delta is ranked fourth.