| OCR Text |
Show The Emery County Review, Tuesday, October 7, 2008 SPORTS B1 Michelle Oliver sets the ball. Tough Volleyball Week In what proved to be a brutal week of volleyball for the Lady Spartans, the only shining moment came when the junior varsity team beat Juan Diego in the first game on Thursday. Other than that, both the JV and Varsity team struggled as they fell to North Sanpete on Sept. 30 and then to Juan Diego on Oct. 2. The Lady Spartans will have two home games this week as they battle Salem Hills on Oct. 7 at home and then face Delta at home on Oct. 9. Adrie Huntington tips the ball. Jodi Robertson takes flight to hit the ball. Photos by Glen Jensen Spartans play hard, despite overwhelming odds Josie Luke The Emery High football team can boast that they are the only team this year to have the lead in a game against Juan Diego, but that is about as far as the good news goes, as the Spartans experienced the type of beating they gave to Carbon just the week before, losing to the Soaring Eagle, 41-6. The Spartans were keyed up as they came onto the field to face Juan Diego. When they forced the Soaring Eagle to turn the ball over on downs, they were more energized. And when they took the ball quickly down the field to score the first touchdown on a 21yard reception from Quarterback Gatlan Huntington to Tanner Procarione, they were nearly flying. But the first of Juan Diego’s many huge touchdown plays, on the first play of the second quarter, brought them down to earth. On fourth down, the Juan Diego quarterback dropped back and looked like he might be sacked by the Spartan’s defense, but it turned out to be a beautifully executed screen. The quarterback tossed the ball to a back, who ran it 24 yards for the score. As coach Jimmy Jones explained, Emery’s offense was able to use a few “new looks” on their first drive to get through the Eagle’s defense but their next possession was quickly stifled. Despite a resurgence by the Emery defense on the next drive, Juan Diego pounded the ball into the end zone to take the air out of the Spartans. The Soaring Eagle added two more touchdowns before halftime for a lead of 28-6. After a batted pass ended the Spartan’s first drive of the third quarter, Juan Diego swiftly scored their fifth touchdown, with a 30-yard reverse play. They missed the extra point kick, but scored their final touchdown in the fourth quarter to take the win, 41-6. It wasn’t that the Spartans didn’t work hard, they did. Coach Jones said, “I think our guys played hard. Later in the game we hung our heads a bit, but really, we basically played hard the whole game.” Notably, the Spartans had no turnovers in the game, and two defensive players have over 12 tackles. The problem was that Juan Diego is, as Coach Jimmy Jones said before the game, “deserving” of their undefeated record and number one ranking. They held Emery’s offense to only 143 yards of offense in the game, despite the adjustments the Emery coaches made for the game. Whether they should in fact be playing against 3A teams is another story. This week’s opponent, Delta, will be the second straight undefeated team Emery will play, but if the Spartans can show the kind of heart they showed in the first half of their game against Juan Diego, it could be a close game. Emery travels to Delta on Oct. 10 for the 7 p.m. game. Cross country teams praised by coach for drive Josie Luke Though the talent level of the Emery Cross Country teams may not be as high as it has been in the past, this year’s teams have worked very hard to improve. Coach Darrell Gardner had high praise for their dedication and drive. “I don’t have as much talent as I’ve had in years past,” he admitted. “But as far as this team, where they started from and where they’re at now, they’ve improved more than any team I’ve ever had. “In this type of a race, hard work and determination makes up for a lot. That’s why I’m so pleased with the kids is because I know I can get that out of them. We really have a group of overachievers.” That determination has been exhibited in the past few races, where Gardner believes both the boy’s and girl’s teams have shown they can compete to make it into the top four teams at the Region 8 meet in order to qualify for state. At the beginning of the season, the Spartan team was easily outraced by the teams they now hope to compete with at region, Carbon and Delta. On Sept. 24, the Emery team showed they could keep things close, barely loosing to both teams at Carbon and then two days later, they in fact beat the Dinos. At their most recent meet, an invitational held by North Sanpete, the Spartans again did well. In the Photo by Josie Luke Despite a lot of hard work, Juan Diego was too much for Emery last week. race that pitted the girl’s team against more than 10 other schools, Lacey Montgomery came in third overall, with a time of 21:29. The boy’s team was forced to participate in the Junior Varsity race because of other school commitments, but it gave them the opportunity to compete again with Carbon, who Gardner believes will be their main rival at the region meet. He revealed that if Emery’s number five runner can come in at the same time as Carbon’s number five, Emery can win. Emery’s next race will be a preregion race at Juan Diego on Oct. 8. The region meet will be on the same course Oct. 15. Tennis players qualify for state Rebecca Lofley The Emery High tennis team vied to place this past week, playing a final region match against Juan Diego on Sept. 30 before entering the region tournament on Oct. 2-3. Juan Diego traveled to Emery bringing only their varsity for their last region match. The Spartans walked away with only one victory for the second doubles team of Kaitlin Potter and Courtney Sitterud. This victory was the perfect addition to their untarnished record for region play. Within their region, they have lost no matches and only a single set. On Oct. 2-3 the team entered the region tennis tournament held in St. George, playing a couple of matches each. The following qualified to advance to the state tournament this weekend: Kaitlin Potter and Courtney Sitterud for second doubles, placing first in region and third overall; Adriane Weihing and Melanie Frisbee, for first doubles, placing high in both region and overall play; and Whitney Saupan, placing seventh in overall play. The state tournament will be held at BYU on Oct. 10-11. |
