Photo by Adam Vogler
Emporia High quarterback Taylor Euler tries to break free of Topeka's Tevyn Harmon in the first quarter of the season opener Friday night. EHS beat Topeka High 43-19.
Perfect? No. Satisfying? Definitely.
Emporia High started its football season with a little of everything — big plays in all three phases of the game, early-game frustration for a young defense and a first-time starting fullback making an impact in place of the injured starter.
It looked like the Spartans might be in for a tough battle early on against Topeka High, but EHS got a game-changing break in the second quarter and struck big in the second half. By the time the fourth quarter wound down and Emporia High had finished off a 43-19 victory, the Spartans and their fans were feeling festive.
“It was fun,” Spartans coach Bill Lowe said. “I think the young kids learned a lot, and everybody played hard. That’s the main thing. We played hard and we gave it all we had, and that’s all you can ask.”
Stars abounded for EHS. Slotback Corey Bacon caught all four of quarterback Taylor Euler’s completions on the night, and two of them went for touchdowns — the first on a 12-yard fade pass early in the second quarter, the second a 42-yard score on a deep throwback following a field-reversing escape act by Euler late in the third. Less than a minute after that, Bacon scored on an easy 27-yard TD run that gave Emporia High a 37-19 lead. His four catches went 80 yards, and he ran for 64.
Euler ran for 59 yards in nine carries, directed Emporia High’s running game with poise and smarts, and punched in two first-half touchdowns from just outside the goal line. Cornerback Josh Maguire, after getting burned on a 78-yard touchdown catch by Topeka High’s DJ Wakes late in the third, redeemed himself quickly and emphatically. Maguire took the ensuing kickoff 67 yards down the right side, setting up Bacon’s third touchdown, then caught a deflected pass on T-High’s next drive and bolted 68 yards for EHS’ final score.
And then there was Sheldon Patton, a starting linebacker pressed into fullback duty for the first time ever thanks to Mark Kolmer’s ankle sprain. Using mostly dive plays out of the option, the Spartans put the ball in Patton’s hands from the get-go, and he responded tremendously, carrying 19 times for 81 yards, both team highs.
“It took me awhile to learn the plays,” Patton said, “but once I got ’em, our offensive line just gave me such big holes that I just did my best to run through ’em, and not run into the other color.”
Euler noted the offensive line’s role in springing him, Patton and Bacon for big plays. But Patton’s work stepping in for Kolmer impressed him, too.
“Mark is a great player, and I’m not taking anything away from him,” Euler said. “But inside our locker room, we knew Sheldon could do it. He’s a great player, he’s a very, very tough kid. And that’s exactly what you want in a fullback. ... He’s quick, but he’s extremely tough. He’s never going to back down from anybody.”
As the game began, it looked as though each team would keep running over each other for easy scores. T-High opened the game with a 56-yard kickoff return by Cody Harrison, then marched repeatedly through the gut of EHS’ defense with no problem, quickly finishing off a 31-yard drive with a touchdown run by Wakes.
Emporia answered with a methodical 12-play drive of its own, capped by Euler’s one-yard sneak on fourth and goal. He added a bootleg sweep on the two-point conversion, and the Spartans took an 8-7 lead.
The Trojans responded with nine straight effective runs, covering 81 yards, and Riley Williams finished off the drive with a 22-yard run. It was 13-8 Trojans late in the first, and both teams had yet to make a stop.
Emporia continued the nonstop scoring on its next drive, getting into the end zone in just five plays. A 45-yard option keeper by Euler brought EHS to the Topeka 20, and the 12-yard fade to Bacon, over an outstretched High defender, completed the drive. Jacob Loucks gave the Spartans another two-point play, catching a jump pass from Euler over the middle to make it 16-13.
With 2:46 left in the half, Wakes picked off a Euler pass and stumbled at Topeka High’s 1-yard line. The next play was the turning point of the game — High quarterback Sam Johnson couldn’t handle the snap, and the ball scooted forward to the 6-yard line, where Spartan safety Quincy Mitchell fell on it. Three plays later, Euler’s second one-yard score, and the extra point, made it 23-13. The Spartans took that lead into the locker room.
Photo by Adam Vogler
Emporia High's Corey Bacon runs for first down in the first quarter of EHS's 43-19 win in their season opener against Topeka Friday night.
In the second half, Emporia kept the big running plays to a minimum. Topeka High was playing from behind and looking to pass more, but the Spartans showed improvement after what Lowe admitted were a worrisome first couple of drives.
“What it came down to is just, we have a really young defense,” Patton said. “We got a lotta guys that have never had this experience playing Friday night. So I think once they got the experience, they did well and they responded really well, and they were tough.”
Euler and Bacon combined to pull off perhaps the most awe-inspiring play of the night with 1:01 left in the third. Euler ran to the left side, then reversed back right, avoided an arm tackle, approached the right sideline and saw a wide-open Bacon back on the left. Bacon carefully hauled in the floating pass near the 20 and sprinted the rest of the way. The extra point made it 30-13. High answered with the 78-yard bomb from Johnson to Wakes, but Maguire’s kick return and Bacon’s subsequent TD run pushed the score back to 37-19.
Maguire capped the scoring with 11:31 left in the game. He and Justin Krause were double-covering a High receiver when Johnson lauched a pass down the sideline. Krause tipped the ball into the air, and Maguire got his hands on it, got his blocks down the left side and ran to the other end.
The road gets tougher from here for EHS, with a game at perennial 4A power Hayden next week and a home game against Junction City the week after that. Friday night, though, was a good starting point.
“It feels good,” Maguire said. “I think the first half we were kind of a little bid timid... but the second half, after we broke a couple of big plays, I think we really just got it going. We knew what we were sort of here to work for, because it’s such a new varsity team, that (the newcomers) just have to get used to it. They caught on really fast.”
Emporia High 43, Topeka High 19
Topeka High 13 0 6 0 — 19
Emporia High 8 15 14 6 — 43
First quarter
TH — DJ Wakes 4 run (Gerlach kick)
Emp — Taylor Euler 1 run (conversion run)
TH — Riley Williams 22 run (kick failed)
Second quarter
Emp — Corey Bacon 12 pass from Euler (conversion pass)
Emp — Euler 1 run (Dorsey kick)
Third quarter
Emp — Bacon 42 pass from Euler (Dorsey kick)
TH — Wakes 78 pass from Johnson (conversion failed)
Emp — Bacon 27 run (Dorsey kick)
Fourth quarter
Emp — Maguire 68 INT return (kick failed)
GAME STATISTICS
TH Emp
First downs 12 10
Rushes-yards 38-190 44-231
Comp-att-int 7-18-2 4-10-1
Passing yards 139 80
Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 7-50 3-35
Punts-avg 1-27 1-49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Topeka: Williams 22-145, Wakes 11-59, Parrish 2-10, Johnson 2-(-13), Clothier 1-(-11); Emporia: Patton 19-81, Bacon 8-64, Euler 9-59, Gaskill 2-17, Sheldon 4-10, Keisler 2-9, Sachez 1-(-9).
Passing — Topeka: Johnson 7-18-2 139; Emporia: Euler 4-10-1 80.
Receiving — Topeka: Wakes 4-111, Williams 1-12, Avery 1-10, Stephens 1-6; Emporia: Bacon 4-80.
Records — Topeka High 0-1, Emporia High 1-0.
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