WICHITA — The day Emporia High got jarred out of its game plan, couldn’t move the ball and couldn’t force key turnovers was the day its season was going to end. The time finally came on Friday against a loaded Bishop Carroll team that left the Spartans margin for neither error nor stagnation.
Emporia fell behind 21-0 early at Bishop Carroll Family Stadium and couldn’t mount a serious comeback attempt, taking a 42-6 thrashing in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A State playoffs. A memorable season for Emporia ended with an 8-3 record thanks mostly to Carroll’s relentless, playmaker-stocked spread offense and the dual-threat abilities of quarterback Blake Bell. There was also the fact that the Spartans — who won their last two district games and last week’s playoff opener over McPherson by a combined 12 points — might not have had a lot left in the tank.
“I’m not trying to make excuses, but I know the last three games have been emotionally charged for our kids,” EHS coach Bill Lowe said. “Not making excuses, because they’re a really good football team. But I think we were emotionally spent, and it’s tough.”
Carroll (11-0) rang up 468 yards of total offense, including 265 in the first half. The Spartans forced the Golden Eagles to punt just once, and the only turnover EHS could force — a Bell fumble recovered by Brock Sheldon at the EHS 19 on the last play of the first quarter — didn’t result in points.
Carroll’s early touchdowns and EHS’ own inability to pick up yards on first down put the Spartans in throwing situations early, which was exactly what they didn’t want. Two of the Spartans’ first three drives ended with second- and third-down incompletions by quarterback Brandon Gentz, who threw eight times in each half, about twice as much as the Spartans usually throw. Gentz completed seven passes for 64 yards with one TD and one interception.
“We couldn’t stop them on defense, and our offense couldn’t get anything going,” Gentz said. “And that kind of took us out of our game plan. We wanted to be able to hold the ball and not let their offense on the field, and when we couldn’t get a drive going, it’s tough to do that.”
The Spartans’ best hope for a comeback to rival last week’s win over McPherson was to score on their first drive of the second half. Down just 21-6 coming out of the break and receiving the second-half kickoff, they had legitimate reason for hope. But they could only go 35 yards before facing a fourth-and-8 at Carroll’s 38, on which a Gentz pass fell incomplete. The drive had eaten four minutes off the clock without resulting in any points.
“I kind of knew, though, just by looking in their eyes, that we were getting whipped up front,” Lowe said. “You can tell when you know your guys can’t block (them). I think our guys were emotionally spent. We’re still in the game (at half), and we’re fighting in there... but that first drive was key, not (being) able to move the ball again.”
The Eagles took over and immediately delivered a crippling blow with a seven-play drive that ended with a 16-yard fade pass from Bell to Shane Brittain. Brittain looked as if he might’ve been forced out of bounds on the side of the end zone without getting a foot in, but the officials ruled it a TD catch, and the extra point made it 28-6. Fourth-quarter TD runs by Blake Rollins of three and 41 yards added to the Eagle rout.
Emporia’s only score came off an 11-play, 63-yard drive in the second quarter. Mark Kolmer and Gentz got it started with runs of 13 and 16 yards, respectively, and Cody Lindquist went up high to grab a 15-yard pass from Gentz, getting a foot in bounds along the sideline. On third-and-goal from the Bishop Carroll 5, Gentz hit Jacob Loucks in the end zone for a quick-hitter score with 4:56 left in the half. The extra point was no good, keeping the score at 21-6.
Before and after that drive, the game belonged to the Carroll offense and Bell, who’s verbally committed to play at the University of Oklahoma next season. Bell ran for 99 yards, counting two end-of-game kneel-downs, and threw for 215 yards on 15-of-23 accuracy, including 191 yards in the first half. His 32-yard TD run, which featured a juke move that sent cornerback Lindquist falling to the ground, got the scoring started.
“He’s going to Oklahoma for a reason,” Lowe said. “It was tough for us.”
Emporia’s vaunted running game netted just 168 yards. But Kolmer, a senior, completed an astounding season running the ball with 86 yards in 17 carries, giving him 1,545 yards rushing for the year.
The Spartans were hurting after Friday’s loss, but their season — which featured a district title and the first playoff victory for EHS in 19 years — will be something for fans to remember.
“It’s gonna be hard to get over, because we were so tight-knit,” said Loucks, another senior. “It was an amazing year, but it’s just tough right now.”
Friday at Bishop Carroll Family Stadium
Emporia 0 6 0 0 — 6
Bishop Carroll 14 7 7 14 — 42
First quarter
BC — Bl. Bell 32 run (Straka kick)
BC — Rollins 6 run (Straka kick)
Second quarter
BC — Nance 21 pass from Bl. Bell (Straka kick)
EMP — Loucks 5 pass from Gentz (kick failed)
Third quarter
BC — Brittain 16 pass from Bl. Bell (Straka kick)
Fourth quarter
BC — Rollins 3 run (Straka kick)
BC — Rollins 41 run (Straka kick)
GAME STATISTICS
EMP BC
First downs 13 17
Rushes-yards 41-168 37-253
Comp.-Att.-Int. 7-17-1 15-23-0
Passing yards 64 215
Total yards 232 468
Penalties-yards 4-27 6-35
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Punts-Avg. 4-39.0 1-52.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — EMP: Kolmer 17-86, Gentz 15-50, Loucks 7-29, Lindquist 2-3; BC: Rollins 13-111, Bl. Bell 18-99, Weber 5-30, Nance 1-13.
Passing — EMP: Gentz 7-16-1 64, Loucks 0-1-0 0; BC: Bell 15-23-0 215.
Receiving — EMP: Childs 2-31, Lindquist 2-21, Loucks 2-8, Kolmer 1-14, Team minus-10; BC: Crippen 5-64, Rollins 4-39, Brittain 2-25, Weber 1-40, Barrientos 1-21, Nance 1-21, Mies 1-5.
Comments
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Joe (anonymous) says...
Great season...Great kids...Great program. Thanks to all the players, coaches, and fans! Emporia is proud of you!
November 14, 2009 at 9:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
4thetruth (anonymous) says...
Good Job Spartans, Last year for Coach ? Hope not he is the best Coach we ever had. Just Rumors, He is not putting in for any Jobs ! He knows how to weed out the cry babies and losers !
November 17, 2009 at 2:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )