Spartans’ playoff hopes rest on knocking off unbeaten Junction City
By Michael Ashford
Originally published 12:59 p.m., October 25, 2007
Updated 12:59 p.m., October 25, 2007
It’s simple really.
If Junction City defeats Emporia and Wichita Heights beats Manhattan on Friday, the Class 6A District 5 State berths would be cut and dry. Junction City and Heights would move on; Emporia and Manhattan would go home.
But if the unexpected happens, well, that’s when things get a little shaky.
The Emporia Spartans would love nothing more than to be the stick in the spokes that makes it all come crashing down.
“We have a chance do something that nobody expects,” sophomore running back Mark Kolmer said. “We’ve got to put it all out there. We know we can go out there and play our best game and come out with something big.”
Riding the excitement of a season-saving 21-10 victory over Manhattan last week, Emporia finds itself right in the middle of things when it comes to receiving one of the two State playoff berths out of District 5. Granted, the Spartans could use some help in the way of Manhattan knocking off Heights, but one thing is for sure: The Spartans want to take care of their business first.
That means pulling off what would be a huge upset over a powerful Junction City squad on the road.
“We’re just going to go out and try to get a playoff berth,” EHS coach Bill Lowe said. “The kids are excited about it, and they’re ready to play.”
Here are the potential outcomes:
• Should EHS beat Junction City and Heights beat Manhattan, the qualifiers will be determined by points between Junction City, Heights and Emporia. Currently, Junction City has 25 points, Heights has 1 and Emporia has minus-2.
• Should EHS beat Junction City and Manhattan beat Heights, Junction City and Emporia would earn the State berths.
• If Junction City beats Emporia and Manhattan beats Heights, Junction City would be in while points again would determine who gets in between Heights and Emporia.
The scenarios are plentiful, but mostly, it hinges on if Emporia (5-3, 1-1 District) can defeat the Blue Jays (8-0, 2-0).
“If we lose, we’re pretty much done,” EHS senior linebacker Ryan Bass said. “Obviously, this game is huge.”
If the Spartans need any proof that they can seriously threaten Junction City’s perfect record, they need to look no further than last year’s season-ending game against the Blue Jays — a game Emporia won, 24-12, over a Junction City roster of players that will be very similar this time around.
Most notably, the Blue Jays return quarterback Ty Zimmerman, running backs Corey Delaney and Barry Lawrence and tight end Colby Kamm, four offensive players that have produced the most for Junction City this season.
The biggest difference between last year’s game and this year’s, however, is not only the circumstances, but also how the Blue Jays have grown since last year’s loss — physically and mentally.
“They’ve got all the weapons — they are big, fast and strong,” Lowe said. “They had some kids move in because of the fort (Fort Riley), and they’re more experienced and more confident. They’re undefeated, and any time you haven’t been beat, you’re going to play with a lot of confidence.”
To try and shake Junction City of that confidence will be an Emporia offense intent on playing keep-away, much like the Spartans did against Manhattan last week.
In beating Manhattan for the first time since 1999, Emporia had two drives that each lasted more than 5 1/2 minutes, essentially playing defense by playing offense.
“We want to keep their offense off the field with our offense,” Kolmer said. “We’re going to have to go there and play our game and not give them opportunities.”
However, Lowe cautioned that being completely committed to running the clock against Junction City will get a team nowhere fast, as the Blue Jays simply have too many good players.
“We’ve got to make some plays in the passing game and spread them out a little bit, because they’re big and physical,” Lowe said. “We’d like to be able to keep it away from them as much as possible, and whether that’s with short passes or running, that’s what we’ve got to do.”
The Spartans aren’t kidding themselves.
They know Friday’s game will be the toughest game of the season.
But, that doesn’t mean they are counting themselves out. Not when so much is at stake.
“We need to do everything right,” Bass said. “There’s not much else we can do. As long as you do everything right, you’re going to win.”