JUNCTION CITY — It started with a crushing fake punt, and from there, Emporia High had the worst final seven minutes of a football game imaginable.
The Spartans went from leading Junction City by seven in the fourth quarter — and awaiting another possession — to letting the defending Class 6A State champions seize the momentum and tie the game. Then, it only got worse.
Junction recovered a kickoff the Spartans were hoping would roll out of bounds, then scored to take the lead. Three Emporia turnovers and an ill-timed face-mask penalty later, and EHS had missed an opportunity for a gigantic third straight win to open the season.
The 35-21 final score will make it look like just another day at the office for Junction, a team that’s now won 16 straight games. Not even close.
“I think we showed that we can play, but we just let ’em off the hook,” said Emporia fullback Mark Kolmer, who slogged his way to 87 yards rushing on 25 carries and scored all three Spartan TDs. “And that’s the difference between a championship team and (other teams).”
Kolmer’s third touchdown, a six-yard run at the start of the fourth quarter, gave EHS a 19-14 lead. The Spartans (2-1) went for two, and a toss to Cody Lindquist worked perfectly, as Lindquist sprinted to the corner to put the Spartans up by seven.
Emporia forced Junction into a three-and-out — or so it seemed — on its next possession, fueled by a Brock Sheldon stop on Junction running back Jimmie King for a three-yard loss on first down. But on 4th-and-13 from its own 26, the Blue Jays lined up as if they were going to go for it. Then, quarterback Braden Gallentine trotted back in apparent preparation to punt the ball. The Blue Jays were going to punt the ball away.
Except they weren’t.
Gallentine took the deep snap, then found a wide-open Bradley Dill over the middle. The 32-yard play took the Blue Jays into Spartan territory, and eight plays later, a one-yard scoring run by Gallentine, plus the extra point, knotted the game.
Corey Burch’s ensuing kickoff hit the turf and bounced toward the sideline, and it looked as if it was going to go out of bounds.
The EHS return team backed off to let it go. But the ball rolled to a stop near the sideline. Kolmer made a dive for it, but couldn’t stop Travae Jones from recovering it at the 15. A 12-yard play-action pass from Gallentine to Zach Jones gave Junction the lead with 5:20 to go.
The Spartans weren’t dead yet — a 32-yard fake pitch and scramble by quarterback Brandon Gentz got them to Junction’s 32. But Junction twice stuffed Kolmer for no gain, putting the Spartans in a 3rd-and-10 passing situation. Gentz rolled right and threw the ball downfield — right into the hands of defensive back Kevin Euring.
“I was trying to hit Cody Lindquist on a drag across the middle,” Gentz said. “It was just a bad decision. I’ve just gotta work on my decision-making.”
That was the Spartans’ last real chance. They would have had Junction stopped on a three-and-out on its next possession if not for a crucial face-mask penalty on third down. When they finally got the ball back on their own 23 with just 1:01 remaining, Justin Ramos intercepted Gentz on a 3rd-and-10 play and took it 36 yards for an insurance TD.
Emporia coach Bill Lowe said he would take the blame for the loss because he believed he made poor coaching decisions. He wouldn’t elaborate on what decisions those were.
“It’s just my fault, all right?” he said. “The kids played hard. They’re playing their guts out, and they’re giving us everything they got.”
Emporia recovered two Gallentine fumbles in the game’s first four minutes, the second an Adam D’Angelo recovery at the Junction 8-yard line after a sack. That set up Kolmer’s first score, a two-yard run on fourth and goal, which gave Junction its first deficit of the year.
The Blue Jays answered at the beginning of the second quarter with a 14-yard TD run by Nate Kozlowski to tie the game at 7. Emporia’s next drive covered 67 yards in 12 plays, ending with an 8-yard score by Kolmer with 6:18 left in the first half. Jacob Loucks’ missed extra point left the score at 13-7, and Junction later took a one-point lead after a 34-yard TD run by King.
The Spartans managed 230 total yards, 178 on the ground. Junction finished with 274 yards rushing, led by King’s 98 yards, and had 362 yards in total offense. Until the fake punt, the Spartan defense had held Junction to just 14 second-half yards.
Realizing the implications of scoring a win Friday night — and how close it was to doing so — Emporia was thoroughly dejected after the game. The Spartans got cleaned up and boarded their bus back home as quickly as they could.
“This was a game that could’ve won and lost the league championship, and we could’ve sent a message to the state,” Gentz said. “This was a hard loss, but we’ve just gotta come back ready next week.”
Friday at Junction City
Emporia 7 6 0 8 — 21
Junction City 7 7 0 21 — 35
First quarter
EMP — Kolmer 2 run (Loucks kick)
JC — Kozlowski 14 run (Clark kick)
Second quarter
EMP — Kolmer 8 run (kick failed)
JC — King 34 run (Clark kick)
Fourth quarter
EMP — Kolmer 6 run (Lindquist run)
JC — Gallentine 1 run (Clark kick)
JC — Jones 11 pass from Gallentine (Burch kick)
JC — Ramos 36 INT return (Burch kick)
GAME STATISTICS
EMP JC
First downs 10 16
Rushes-yards 44-178 52-274
Comp-Att-Int 4-7-1 5-12-1
Passing yards 52 88
Total yards 230 362
Penalties-yards 6-30 3-30
Punts-Avg. 4-43.0 3-35.7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — EMP: Kolmer 25-87, Gentz 10-47, Loucks 3-23, Lindquist 6-21; JC: King 17-98, Kozlowski 12-94, Parmely 14-79, Gallentine 9-3.
Passing — EMP: Gentz 4-7-1; JC: Gallentine 5-12-1.
Receiving — EMP: Loucks 1-22, Parks 1-11, Childs 1-10, Thomsen 1-9; JC: Burch 1-25, Timmerman 1-32, King 1-17, Jones 1-12, Kozlowski 1-2.
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