With national and local attention focused on the Union Cougar football team this past week, it seemed the Emery Spartans slipped into Roosevelt Friday night with less pressure than they are used to. Emery took advantage of it and pounded the Cougars 41-21 to end a four-game losing streak.
Marco Mota returned for the Spartans and rushed for two touchdowns in the game. The Emery defense made key plays when it had to as well. The Spartans led at halftime 21-7.
Union caught the attention of many around the state and country when head coach Matt Labrum suspended the entire team after last week’s loss to Judge Memorial. He suspended all 41 players because of a myriad of off-field issues, from cyber-bullying to skipping classes. All but a few of the players were reinstated Wednesday evening.
The Spartans looked crisp from the first period, scoring in every quarter including 14 and 13 points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
Emery (2-4, 1-1 3A North) will travel to number-one ranked Grantsville (5-1, 1-1 3A North) next Friday. Grantsville was upended by Judge Memorial 25-14 Friday night, for its first loss of the season.