Spartans seek victory for seniors, pride
Emporia can claim best record since 1999 in season finale
By Michael Ashford
Thursday, October 26, 2006
This one is all about pride.
When Emporia High meets up with Junction City on Friday night, it will be a contest between two teams that are 0-2 in district play with no shot at making the State playoffs.
Basically, both teams are playing for the chance to end their season with a win in district play.
“It would be disappointing to go out 0-3 in districts,” senior running back Clint Drake said. “We want to finish this off with a win and not embarrass ourselves.”
For Emporia High, the stakes are high even though the Spartans’ season will close as soon as the clock hits 0:00 on Friday, win or lose.
With a 5-3 overall record, the Spartans have a shot at winning six games for the first time since 1999, no small feat when considering that Emporia High had won a combined two games the previous two seasons.
“We really want to go out and put a good end to this season,” Drake said. “We want to make our own little mark in history. We want to go out right.”
To make that mark, the Spartans will first have to go through a Junction City squad that might have more kick to it than it seems.
Sure, the Bluejays are 4-4 overall, but those four losses have come at the hands of Hayden, Seaman, Manhattan and Wichita Heights — four teams with a combined record of 27-5.
“Look at who they’ve lost to,” EHS coach Bill Lowe said. “They’re a very good team. It’ll be a real challenge. It’ll be whoever wants it the most. They know it’s the last game and what they’re playing for.”
For the Spartans, though the situation might be a little different this week, the game plan certainly has not changed.
While some experimenting with positions might take place here and there — linebacker Dillon Cox might see time at fullback while Drake has been practicing some in the slot — the Spartans’ goal on offense will not waver: run.
“We’re going to run the ball and establish the same things that we have in every other game,” Drake said. “We’re going to do what we know, and we know how to run the ball.”
The same could be said for Junction City, which ran for 268 yards last week in a 31-7 loss to Wichita Heights.
“They’re going to run the ball a lot,” senior safety Robert Keisler said. “This is going to come down to pride and who wants it the most.”
As a side note, it will be the final game for 18 Spartan seniors who have been the catalyst for Emporia High’s turnaround this season.
That reality has hit some of the Emporia High seniors hard this week, knowing that every second closer to game time means a second closer to the end of their high school football days.
“This week has actually been pretty rough. It’s our last week of high school football ever,” Keisler said. “Most of us have been here since our freshman year and we’ve all been playing together since we were little.
“I’m constantly thinking in practice, ‘This is my last time to do this, my last time doing this drill.’”
Lowe said the only appropriate way to send the seniors out would be with a win, and he said that has been the rallying cry this week as the season’s end nears.
“That’s really been how we’ve approached this week — let’s do this, let’s get excited, let’s have fun and let’s go out winners,” Lowe said. “Let’s get it done. There’s nothing the kids want more than to do it for the seniors.”