TOPEKA — The Emporia High Spartans knew they were underdogs heading into Friday night’s game at Washburn Rural, and boy did they ever pull out the disrespect card.
The Spartans played with a chip on their shoulder from the get-go and rocked the Junior Blues, 35-0, on Rural’s Homecoming night thanks to a stellar defensive performance and a big-play offense that out-gained Rural 356-155.
“(Being underdogs) definitely gave us a fire in our bellies,” junior linebacker Sheldon Patton said. “We definitely wanted to come out and hit them hard.”
Patton was part of a masterful game by the EHS defense, which tallied three sacks, recovered two fumbles, made one interception and did not allow rival Rural to gain a first down after halftime until less than 5 minutes remained in the game.
“I’m so proud of our kids defensively, and our defensive coaches did a great job,” EHS coach Bill Lowe said. “Our assistant coaches, I’m so proud of them for the game plan. We’ve got a great staff, and our kids just do what we ask, and I’m proud of them.”
Meanwhile, the Emporia offense steamrolled the Rural defense, particularly in the second half. The Spartans (2-1, 2-0 Centennial League) came out of the locker room after the break and scored touchdowns on three straight possessions to turn a 14-0 game at halftime into a runaway victory.
“Everyone was doing their job,” said junior Corey Bacon, who caught four passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. “We all just had to do what we were told, and good things happened. We came in with an attitude and played well.”
Emporia’s dominance on defense started on Rural’s opening possession, as Cord Stanley and Ryan Bass each recorded sacks to force a Rural punt. On the Junior Blues’ next possession, their offense went three-and-out, and Emporia made the first of several big plays when Andrew Laib blocked Rural’s punt to give the Spartans the ball on the Rural 14.
“We had been working on punt blocks since the first day of camp,” Lowe said. “We said, ‘We’re going to get to some punts this year,’ and that was huge.”
The Spartans got all the points they would need four plays later when quarterback Taylor Euler scrambled in from 7 yards out to make it 7-0.
But the Spartans weren’t done there. On Rural’s next four possessions, the Junior Blues (0-3, 0-3) fumbled, punted, turned it over on downs inside Emporia’s 5-yard line and were intercepted by EHS’s Brandon Childs.
“I think we just rose up to the challenge,” said Patton, who had Emporia’s third sack. “Our coaches challenged us to step up and be a first-half team, and we finally stepped up.”
Emporia added to its lead midway through the second quarter when Bacon hauled in a pass from Euler down the right sideline and scampered untouched into the end zone for a 50-yard TD pass that made it 14-0.
“Taylor put it right on the money. You couldn’t ask for a better throw,” Bacon said. “The line made amazing blocks. Everything just worked out perfect on that play.”
While the Spartans were impressive defensively in the first half, they were even better in the second. Washburn Rural could only muster 47 yards of offense in the second half, with 33 of those yards coming on its last drive against Emporia’s second stringers. The first of just two Junior Blues first downs of the half came with 4:38 left in the game.
“We had been working really hard all week, and the work was paying off,” Patton said. “For us to be able to play well throughout the entire game, it really should set the tone for the rest of the season.”
The Spartans offense came out of the locker room just as dominant, scoring touchdowns on drives of 56, 74 and 62 yards. The first score out of halftime came when Harrison Stone made a diving, one-handed grab in the end zone on an 8-yard pass from Euler to make it 21-0.
“Harrison Stone made a great catch,” Lowe said. “That was a great effort.”
A 25-yard TD scamper by Edd Noonan and a 42-yard score by Mark Kolmer capped the scoring.
After entering the game as two-touchdown underdogs, the Spartans left Rural’s field confident after shutting out a team that had hung with Centennial League powers Manhattan and Seaman to start the season.
“It was a critical game,” Lowe said. “The kids have really responded to what we’ve asked them to do, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. We have a great bunch of kids and they just played their hearts out.”
Emporia 35, Washburn Rural 0
Friday at Topeka
Emporia 7 7 14 7 — 35
Washburn Rural 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
Emp — Taylor Euler 7 run (Blaze Witten kick)
Second Quarter
Emp — Corey Bacon 50 pass from Euler (Witten kick)
Third Quarter
Emp — Harrison Stone 8 pass from Euler (Witten kick)
Emp — Edd Noonan 25 run (Witten kick)
Fourth Quarter
Emp — Mark Kolmer 42 run (Witten kick)
GAME STATISTICS
Emporia WR
First downs 15 10
Rushes-yards 48-241 33-77
Comp-Att-Int 6-9-1 5-18-1
Passing yards 115 78
Total plays-yards 57-356 51-155
Fumbles-lost 3-0 5-2
Penalties-yards 9-65 6-37
Punts-avg 3-32.0 5-30.8
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Emporia: Edd Noonan 21-119, Taylor Euler 13-52, Mark Kolmer 5-49, Chris Williams 6-18, Bryce Childs 1-3, Logan Gaskill 1-2, Team 1-(-2). WR: Jason Kulick 21-70, Trent Annan 11-1, Luke Joliff 1-6.
Passing — Emporia: Euler 6-9-1 115. WR: Annan 5-18-1 78.
Receiving — Emporia: Corey Bacon 4-87, Harrison Stone 2-28. WR: John Pecis 2-34, Mitch Graham 1-16, Kulick 1-16, Markeith Ferguson 1-12.
Punting — Emporia: Brandon Childs 3-32.0. WR: Blaine Matthews 5-30.8.
Records — Emporia (2-1, 2-0 Centennial League). WR (0-3, 0-3).