The Emporia Gazette

May 28, 2012

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Emporia High will enter Friday night’s game at Salina Central knowing that if it can win, there’s a high probability the Spartans will find out soon after the game’s over that they have a state playoff berth locked up.

If Emporia wins, and 5-2 Salina South wins at 1-6 Topeka West, both Emporia and Salina South will be 2-0 in District 5 play and will have secured the two playoff spots from that district. The Emporia-Salina South game at Welch Stadium next week would still be for a district championship and a home playoff game, but both teams would already know that they get to keep playing.

But, first things first: Emporia needs to take down 3-4 Salina Central this week. The Mustangs, who won their last state title three years ago while featuring the nearly unstoppable running of Jake Sharp, now are led offensively by his brother, sophomore Cale Sharp. Cale has run for 763 yards this year and scored nine touchdowns.

Scouting Emporia

Lowe said that during last week’s easy 47-0 win over Topeka West, the Spartans were intent on not showing a whole lot that could get on film. He hinted that this week, the Spartans might deviate just slightly from the trademark run-run-run approach that’s worked brilliantly during their four-game winning streak.

“With this game coming up, we know we’re gonna have to throw the ball a little more, maybe, and back ’em up a little bit,” Lowe said. “But our game is to be able to run the ball, and everybody knows that. We know that, they know that.”

After his outstanding 156-yard, three-touchdown effort against West, slotback Corey Bacon now has 571 yards on the year and an 8.52 yard-per-carry average, and a team-leading eight rushing TDs. Fullback Mark Kolmer leads the Spartans with 642 yards on 138 carries and has six touchdowns. Many of their yards have come from running behind the right side of the line, where guard T.J. Heins and tackle Jordan Barr have been dominant.

“We’ve got two seniors over there, and they’re both pretty good players,” Lowe said. “Plus, we feel comfortable there. But we can go left, too. I mean, when we have a senior, running the ball to the right, it makes a little difference.”

The Spartans will do some more defensive line shuffling this week because Jordan Knight has been sick. Lowe said Emmanuel Aceves or Riley Stair would replace Knight in the starting lineup this week, with Aceves most likely to get the start.

The Spartans continued their impressive knack for winning the turnover battle against butterfingered Topeka West, grabbing two of the Chargers’ eight fumbles. Emporia High now has 14 takeaways on the season against just four giveaways.

Scouting Salina Central

The Mustangs’ 21-14 loss at Salina South last week came on a touchdown with 34 seconds left, and two of Central’s other three losses were by a combined eight points. That leaves the 71-24 blowout it suffered at the hands of powerhouse Hutchinson as the Mustangs’ only embarrassing defeat.

Jake Sharp, of course, is now the starting running back at Kansas, but his brother is giving Mustangs fans a latter-day version. Lowe said Cale Sharp runs just like his older brother.

“He’s fast, and he’s got those quick feet that make people miss,” Lowe said. “We’ll have to do a good job of wrapping him up.”

Taylor Counts is another running threat for Central, with 324 yards on 62 carries this year. The Mustangs do throw the ball some — quarterback Trey Dallas has completed only 46 percent of his 136 passes, but he does have 1,165 yards on the year and nine TDs against just five interceptions. He put up a 311-yard passing performance in Central’s 38-31 loss to Blue Valley earlier this year.

Seth Myers, with 21 catches and 402 yards, is his top receiver. Tight end Lucas Allen is another frequent target, with 20 catches for 300 yards.

On defense, the Mustangs’ key guys include defensive backs Shay Wooten and Zach Norris, linebacker Collin Ringle and defensive lineman Spencer Gwin. Wooten has five passes defensed and two interceptions, and Norris has a team-leading three picks. Gwin has three sacks this season.

The Mustangs have allowed 26 points per game, but if you ignore the Hutchinson loss, that number drops to 19.

“They’re pretty good on defense,” Lowe said. “They run to the ball well, and they pursue well.”