Last Friday night the Emery High Spartan football team traveled to Roosevelt to face the Union Cougars in a 3-A North region contest. Through almost a third of the game the visiting Spartans held their own and were winning 14-3 but the rest of the game was all Union and the Cougars won this region contest by the score of 52-14.
The Cougars received the opening kickoff and went three and out and had to punt on their opening drive. Emery, after that punt, started their first drive at their 32-yard line and the Spartans proceeded to drive the ball down the field and they scored on their ninth play of the drive on a pass that went from Kyson Stilson to Jared Snow and covered seven yards.
Brock Winter kicked the extra point and the Spartans led 7-0. The big play of the drive was a 33-yard pass play from Stilson to Colton Willson. Stilson went six for seven on this drive passing.
On Union’s next drive the Cougars had to settle for a field goal and Emery still led 7-3.
Emery’s next offensive series started at their 21-yard line and Emery scored after an 11 play drive on a 1-yard run by Willson and Winter added the extra point and the Spartans led 14-3. Stilson was six for six on this drive with a 10-yard pass to Willson covering the most distance.
From this point on the game was all Union as they added three touchdowns in the second quarter, a touchdown and a safety in the third quarter and two more touchdowns in the final period of play.
The safety came after a blocked Emery punt went out of bounds and the Cougar final touchdown came on a returned interception in the fourth quarter.
Union has 17 players back this season that started last season for the Cougars and that experience was probably a lot of the difference in this game, the Spartans return just four players that saw varsity action last season.
Stilson finished the game completing 22 of 34 passes and those passes covered 201 yards. Willson caught 12 of those passes and they covered 132 yards. Easton Gordon caught four passes, Jaymes Bowman caught three passes and Snow and Rance Jensen each caught two passes.
Jensen carried the ball 17 times and gained 31 yards. Gordon and Stilson each carried the ball twice and Willson and Bowman each had one carry.
Defensively, Teagan Christman starting at linebacker led the way with nine tackles followed by Jensen with seven tackles and Gordon with six tackles. Bowman, Snow and Willson each had four tackles.
Emery will close out the region season this Friday night with a game at Grantsville.
Union will travel to Morgan and the Trojans will be looking to close out the season undefeated in region action. Carbon and Judge Memorial will face-off in the other game.
Cougars defeat Spartans at Union
Brock Winter with the catch. Patsy Stoddard, Editor