Emporia High's Emporia High's Cody Lindquist dives on a loose ball during EHS's 35-24 comeback win at Washburn Rural Friday, Sept. 26.
Topeka — Taylor Euler sprinted into the locker room, took off his shoulder pads and then stepped back outside.
“Wow,” Euler said to no one in particular with a stunned smile on his face.
Euler’s euphoria came from one of the best comebacks EHS coach Bill Lowe said he’s ever seen in a 35-24 victory on Friday night at Washburn Rural.
Emporia trailed 17-0 at halftime. The Spartans had been out-gained 250 to 73 yards in the first half. They went their first three series without gaining a first down — the first came midway through the second quarter on a pass interference call.
They had been beaten so badly in the first half — and beaten so badly the previous two weeks — that Euler thought his team would be playing the second half for pride.
Emporia High's Mark Kolmer (9) meets Washburn Rural's Dylan Prior (43) at the goal-line as Kolmer scores Emporia's first touchdown of the night in their 35-24 comeback win at Washburn Friday, Sept. 26.
“At halftime, us seniors kind of looked at each other and we were like, ‘well, this isn’t a very fun senior year so far. We’re going to drop down to 1-3. This is ridiculous,’” Euler said. “We kind of talked about saving a little faith, playing for pride. If we play for some pride, maybe things will take care of itself, and I think we did that.”
Lowe said he told his players at halftime that he didn’t have a magic wand to wave them out of their funk. They needed to find the motivation within themselves.
“We’ve had two tough games and we were pretty down and out and we found a way to rise out of the ashes,” Lowe said. “We’ve been talking all week about being the old wolf that’s beat up and in the humane society about ready to be put to sleep and we’ve got to find a way to scratch and claw and find a way out of there.”
Whether it was pride, their inner wolves or desperation, take your pick. But the Spartans looked like a different team in the second half.
The EHS coaches decided to add an extra defensive lineman and play with one less linebacker to try to stop the run, and it was the Junior Blues who had one first down in the second half nearly midway through the fourth quarter.
The Spartans woke up on offense thanks to a running game that was virtually nonexistent (66 yards) in the first half. Euler set up the Spartans first touchdown with a 21-yard run on a bootleg that went to the 4-yard line. Four plays later on fourth and goal, Mark Kolmer scored the Spartans first touchdown.
Emporia High's Mark Kolmer (9) dives over the goal-line as Kolmer scores Emporia's third touchdown to take the lead 21-17 during tEHS's 35-24 comeback win at Washburn Friday, Sept. 26.
On the Junior Blues second play after Kolmer’s touchdown, Euler forced Rural quarterback Trent Annan to fumble and Cody Lindquist fell on the ball. Bacon scored on an 11-yard touchdown to pull EHS within three points.
The Spartans forced the Junior Blues to go three and out, and scored again on their next drive, going 63 yards on 10 plays — only one more than nine yards — culminating with a two-yard Kolmer touchdown run to give the Spartans a 21-17 lead.
“Our offense is full of long drives and it’s very repetitive,” Euler said. “We’re going to wear them down, and Washburn Rural is probably one of the biggest teams in the state of Kansas with that offensive and defensive lines.
“We knew if we could keep going at them three, four, five yards at a play, they’re going to get extremely tired, they’re going to wear down and they’re going to want to quit. The offensive line kept smacking them in the mouth and eventually the holes were humongous.”
Washburn Rural finally responded when it looked like the Spartans had the comeback win locked up. After Annan had a pass fall incomplete on third and eight, EHS was flagged for a sideline penalty when one of the EHS assistant coaches bumped into the sideline official. Instead of fourth and eight, the Blues had fourth and three, and Luke Joliff broke through the line untouched, then broke a tackle attempt by Euler for a 45-yard touchdown run to give the Blues a 24-21 lead with 5:44 left in the game.
“I was like, I just cost us the game,” Euler said. “I turned to Josh Maguire at the kickoff and told him we didn’t come all the way back for this. We didn’t come all the way back for that. We’re going to come back, I promise you.”
Euler delivered on his promise, leading the Spartans on a 12-play, 80-yard drive. Euler had the highlight run of the drive when he went 27 yards on an option, breaking several tackles near the sideline before a bevy of Rural tacklers finally dragged him to the ground.
Bacon gave the Spartans the go-ahead score with a five-yard touchdown run with 49 seconds left.
“That was a hole you could drive a truck through,” Bacon said. “You couldn’t ask for better blocking.”
Justin Krause sealed the game when he intercepted an Annan pass and returned it 45 yards for another touchdown.
The Spartans began to celebrate as if they had won a playoff game. By avoiding three straight losses, this win was just as big.
“We were fighting for our existence,” Euler said. “That’s what we were saying all week. If we go 1-3, we’ve got no respect left. We’re not going to get it back. Our season’s over if we lose this game. We were fighting for our year, and it’s a big momentum swing. Big. I think we’re off and running from here.”
Friday at Washburn Rural
Emporia (2-2) 0 0 14 21 — 35
Wash. Rural (2-2) 3 14 0 7 — 24
First quarter
WR — Meenen 27 field goal
Second quarter
WR — Joliff 5 run (Meenen kick)
WR — Edwards 44 run (Meenen kick)
Third quarter
EMP — Kolmer 1 run (kick failed)
EMP — Bacon 11 run (Loucks pass from Euler)
Fourth quarter
EMP — Kolmer 2 run (Dorsey kick)
WR — Joliff 45 run (Meenen kick)
EMP — Bacon 5 run (Dorsey kick)
EMP — Krause interception 45 return (Dorsey kick)
GAME STATISTICS
EMP WR
First downs 12 12
Rushing yards 288 303
Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-7-1 4-13-3
Pass yards 7 46
Total yards 295 349
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 6-45 3-36
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — EMP: Kolmer 22-102, Euler 14-92, Bacon 12-67, Brian Keisler 1-7; WR: Edwards 19-139, Joliff 14-136, Annan 9-28.
Passing — EMP: Gentz 1-1-7, Euler 0-2, Bacon 0-1, INT; WR: Annan 4-15-46, 3 INT.
Receiving — EMP: Euler 1-7; WR: Edwards 2-26, Swope 2-26.
Highlights
• Emporia’s game-winning 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. The Spartans did not attempt one pass in the second half and it would have been easy to feel the need to pass with five minutes left, down four points, but the Spartans stuck to what had brought them success and it paid off.
• The Spartans caused four turnovers. Sophomore Cody Lindquist had his first two interceptions of his career and also recovered a fumble. Justin Krause’s interception return for a touchdown sealed the game.
Lowlights
• The entire first half for the Spartans. They had only 73 total yards at halftime and looked like they were suffering a hangover from the blowout losses they suffered the previous two weeks. The Junior Blues ran over, around and through the Spartans in the first half, rushing for 224 yards and dominating every phase of the ball.
• After holding Washburn Rural scoreless in the second half, Luke Joliff ran 45 yards for a touchdown to give Rural a 24-21 lead, and it looked like the Junior Blues would steal away the win.
Bottom line
F The game was won at the line of scrimmage. The Spartans offensive and defensive lines were bad in the first half. The O-line was not opening any holes and the EHS backs rarely got past the line. The EHS D-line let the Rural backs get through the line untouched and also allowed the Rural O-linemen to reach the EHS linebackers. Bill Lowe and his staff deserve credit for putting adding an extra defensive lineman — and sometimes two — in the second half, which slowed the Junior Blues, who ran for only 79 yards in the second half. The EHS offensive line was like a different group in the second half and provided big running lanes, and the EHS backs took advantage.
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