VALLEY CENTER —The Emporia High football team received the ball to open the game Friday night at Valley Center, quickly losing a fumble on the second play of the series.
It was a brief setback. EHS recovered a Valley Center fumble on the next drive. The Spartans turned the ensuing drive into a touchdown, then didn’t look back in a 41-10 victory over the Hornets.
EHS held a 34-3 lead by halftime. Quarterback Braxton Marstall accounted for four first-half touchdowns, throwing for three and running for another. Cody Campbell caught two of those touchdown passes, then returned a punt for a third first-half touchdown.
“Braxton threw the ball well tonight,” EHS coach Dustin Delaney said. “We’re at 20 touchdown passes on the year in nine games, which in our offense is a pretty good stat.”
The usually run-heavy Spartans passed the ball for the majority of their offense. Marstall threw the ball 13 times, completing 10 passes for 213 yards and four touchdowns, averaging more than 16 yards per pass attempt.
“They kept blitzing us a lot, and we were getting quick passes off on it, and it kept working,” Marstall said.
EHS gained 107 yards rushing the ball, with many of those yards coming from second-string players in the second half. Derek Gifford, the Spartans’ leading rusher on the season, ran the ball just three times, going for nine yards.
Campbell was Emporia’s leading receiver, with 103 yards on three catches. Austin Knight had three catches for 80 yards. Nick Rodriguez was Emporia’s leading rusher, carrying the ball 11 times for 27 yards. All of his carries came in the second half. The Spartans had a total of 320 yards of offense.
Valley Center (1-8) had 180 yards of total offense and scored 10 points, though the Hornets did not score an offensive touchdown. The Hornets’ lone score of the game came on an interception return in the fourth quarter by Braden Tormey. Valley Center did put together some long drives, including one in the second quarter that lasted more than six minutes and led to a field goal, their only other points.
“We’ve just got to get better on defense, it’s that simple, there’s no two ways around it,” Delaney said.
The Hornets had five turnovers, with three interceptions and two lost fumbles. EHS lost two fumbles and threw one interception.
EHS has finished the regular season with a 6-3 overall record. It is 3-0 in district play and has won the district championship. McPherson earned a playoff berth as the district runner-up with a 49-21 win over Newton on Friday. The Spartans will host Andover Central in their first-round playoff game on Nov. 4 at Welch Stadium.
Friday at Valley Center
Emporia 20 14 7 0 — 41
Valley Center 0 3 0 7 — 10
First quarter
EMP — Campbell 54 pass from Brax. Marstall (Lemus kick)
EMP — Campbell 25 pass from Brax. Marstall (Torres kick)
EMP — Brax. Marstall 3 run (kick failed)
Second quarter
EMP — Campbell 70 punt return (Lemus kick)
VC — Holdaway 21 field goal
EMP — Gifford 14 pass from Brax. Marstall (Lemus kick)
Third quarter
EMP — Brady Marstall 3 pass from Brax. Marstall (Torres kick)
Fourth quarter
VC — Tormey 86 interception return (Holdaway kick)
GAME STATISTICS
EMP VC
First downs 11 13
Rushes-yards 24-107 56-129
Comp.-Att-Int. 10-14-1 3-9-3
Passing yards 213 51
Total yards 320 180
Fumbles-lost 2-2 3-2
Penalties-yards 6-56 5-62
Punts-Avg. 1-37 2-38
Individual Statistics
Rushing — EMP: Jackson 3-22, Gifford 3-9, Brax. Marstall 2-10, Knight 1-17, Rodriguez 11-27, Eichler 2-14, Barkus 1-5, Kuhn 1-3. VC: Gentry 10-25, Canaday 44-100, Holdaway 2-4.
Passing — EMP: Brax. Marstall 10-13-0, 213 yards, Eichler 0-1-1, 0 yards. VC: Canaday 3-9-3, 51 yards.
Receiving — EMP: Brady Marstall 2-13, Knight 3-80, Campbell 3-103, Gifford 2-17. VC: McCallum 1-25, Johnson 1-14, Gentry 1-12.