The Emery Spartans held a 7-0 lead into the second quarter Friday night against the #1 Juan Diego Soaring Eagle before the visiting team slowly pulled ahead for the win 21-13, wrapping up an undefeated 3A North regular season.
After two unsuccessful drives from Juan Diego to begin the game, and after a muffed ball on an Emery punt return in between those drives, the Spartans kept it for over seven-and-a-half minutes and scored on a four-yard TD reception by Ashton Dieli to take the 7-0 lead.
Juan Diego answered early in the second period to tie the game on a one-yard run by quarterback Alex Hoffman. The Soaring Eagle added another touchdown just minutes later to take a 13-7 lead into halftime.
The Spartans kept the high-powered Juan Diego offense out of the end zone until just under two minutes to go in the third quarter when the Soaring Eagle added its final TD on another run by Hoffman, this time from two yards out.
In the fourth quarter the Spartans put together another extended drive that lasted 7:11 and was capped off by a 17-yard TD pass and catch by Zach Jorgensen to Austin Allred on fourth down to cut the Soaring Eagle lead to 21-13. Juan Diego was able to run out the clock after a failed Spartan onside kick to end the game.
With the loss and a Union win at Carbon Friday night, Emery (4-5, 2-3 3A North) secured the fourth seed out of the North and will travel to play North Sanpete (6-4, 4-1 3A South) on Friday in the first round of the 3A Playoffs. Kickoff will be at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ETV Channel 10.
Watch highlights of the game below:
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