Pressuring the punter
Josh Maguire’s punt-block early in the second quarter got Emporia going after a scoreless, uninspired first quarter.
On 4th-and-13 from Topeka West’s 24, Maguire rushed in unblocked from the right side and got his left hand on Alec Boyd’s punt. The ball tumbled to the left side, where Mark Kolmer fell on it at the 18-yard line. One play later, on a pass from Taylor Euler to Brian Keisler, the Spartans were on the scoreboard.
“That’s been our whole focus this week, all the special teams,” Maguire said. “I hadn’t been on (special teams) for the past couple of weeks, or I’d been sitting outside, just manned up on one of the receiver guys. So (Coach Bill Lowe) moved me there back this weekend. ... And I just kind of had a good takeoff from the ball, just watching it, got through with no one really trying to block me, or I beat the guy that was trying to, and I got my hand on it.”
Keisler got a partial block on Boyd’s punt on Topeka West’s next drive, causing the ball to die just 19 yards from the line of scrimmage.
“I shoulda had it (completely),” Keisler said. “I just didn’t lay out for it enough.”
Go for it
Emporia didn’t punt until a little more than five minutes remaining in the game, despite facing four fourth downs prior to that one.
The Spartans converted on three of those fourth-down situations. On 4th-and-6 on their first drive from their own 47, Taylor Euler found a wide-open Jacob Loucks on the left side for a 20-yard gain. On 4th-and-3 from the West 40 two drives later, Euler pitched to Corey Bacon, who muffed the exchange but had enough room to grab the ball back and run 11 yards for a first down. And on 4th-and-4 from Topeka West’s 20 early in the third quarter, Euler dropped back, saw a running lane, and scampered 10 yards for a first down.
“We’re a four-down team,” Lowe said. “If it’s 4th-and-short, we’re gonna go for it. We don’t wanna give the ball up. We wanna control the clock and run more plays.”
Getting some PT
With victory in hand well before the end of the game, a number of players who haven’t been heard from much this year had a chance to get in the offensive record books.
Brock Sheldon, a starting linebacker and the backup fullback to Mark Kolmer, made an impression with his up-the-gut 54-yard touchdown run with one minute to go in the game.
Senior Joel Bland caught his first pass of the year, an 11-yard bullet from Euler early in the fourth quarter. Sophomores Ethan Pearson and Chris Santos each got their first varsity carries of the year in the fourth quarter; Pearson carried once for one yard, Santos once for two yards.