EHS wins 43-19
By Joey Berlin
Originally published 07:24 p.m., September 5, 2008
Updated 07:48 p.m., September 5, 2008
Taylor Euler scored two touchdowns and passed for another, Corey Bacon ran for a TD and caught two, and Josh Maguire brought an interception back 68 yards for a score as Emporia High scored a win in its opening game, beating Topeka High 43-19 Friday at Welch Stadium.
Bacon caught a 42-yard TD pass from Taylor Euler on a 4th-and-6th play with 1:01 left in the third, and the extra point made it 30-13. After High responded with a 78-yard touchdown pass from Sam Johnson to DJ Wakes, Maguire returned the ensuing kickoff 67 yards to the T-High 27. Bacon found a hole up the middle on the next play and burst through to an empty secondary and an easy score.
When Topeka High got the ball back, Johnson threw into double coverage down the right side, and Justin Krause tipped the ball into the air as he fell down. Maguire hauled in the deflection and raced down the left sideline for a score. The point-after try was no good, leaving the score at 43-19.
Both teams were unable to stop each other in the first half of the opening game of the season, but a key turnover helped the Spartans get a 10-point jump on the Trojans at halftime.
A fumbled snap by Trojan quarterback Sam Johnson gave EHS the ball at the T-High 6-yard line with 2:40 left in the half. Taylor Euler scored on a one-yard keeper three plays later for his second touchdown of the first half, and the extra point gave the Spartans a 23-13 lead at half.
Each time used the ground game to move the ball at will on their first two possessions. A 12-yard touchdown pass from Euler to Corey Bacon gave the Spartans a 14-13 lead with 10:24 left in the first half, and a two-point pass from Euler to Jacob Loucks made it 16-13 in favor of EHS.
The Spartans earlier scored on a one-yard keeper by Euler, who then scored on a bootleg for the two-point conversion.