The annual match-up between Carbon and Emery took place in Castle Dale on Friday night in front of a great crowd. Fans from both teams filled the stands, showing their team spirit for the rivalry game.
The Dinos caught the first break when they forced a fumble deep in Emery’s territory. They went on to convert the turnover into a touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead. The Spartans answered back with a touchdown drive of their own but missed the extra point to go down 7-6.
Carbon then went down the field to punch in another touchdown to extend its lead to eight. On the ensuing kickoff, Szion Gibson took the ball 95 yards to the house. Jaymes Bowman was able to stick out the ball, just far enough while he was going to the ground, on the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14.
The Spartans got a stop defensively on the next series to set up a go-ahead drive that was capped off by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Stilson to Bowman. The Spartans again missed the PAT but held a 20-14 advantage.
The wheels then came off for the Dinos as they fumbled the ball a couple plays into their following drive. Emery’s Jax Madsen scooped the ball up and returned it for a touchdown, capturing all the momentum. The Spartans went into halftime up two scores, 26-14.
Emery received the kickoff in the second half and again began driving down the field. Just when it looked like the Spartans were going to run away with the contest, Ryker Larson stepped up big for the Dinos and intercepted a pass in the end zone to end the threat.
The Dinos put together an 80-yard touchdown drive that was extended due to a roughing the kicker penalty. After the extra-point, Carbon only trailed by five, 26-21.
In the fourth quarter, Emery was moving the ball downfield and crossed into Dino territory. Carbon came up big with a stop on third down, deep on their own side. Emery came out in field goal formation but opted to fake the kick but the Dinos were ready for it. The contested pass fell incomplete and Carbon gained possession.
In the final minutes, the Dinos had the ball with a chance to go ahead. On a key fourth down play, Emery’s defensive line created pressure, forcing Tyler Wright to attempt to run the ball for the first down. Wright was brought down short of the line to gain and the Dinos turned it over on downs.
Emery ran out the clock to take the Coal Bowl, 26-21. The Dino defense played well in the game and only gave up 14 points, including a second half shutout. The Spartans capitalized on the kickoff return and the defensive score to take back the coal bucket and grab their first victory of the season.
Emery (1-6, 1-1 Region 12) will head to play South Sevier (0-7, 0-2 Region 12) next week while the Dinos (1-4, 0-2 Region 12) will host Grand (3-4, 1-1). Carbon’s game will be broadcast live on ETV Channel 10 and on etvnews.com/livesports.
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- Photos by Dusty Butler
