| Davey Cox breaks into the open field for a big gain in the first quarter, but the Dinos were unable to push the ball into the end zone for a score. |
With Emery as the rival this year, and Fox televising the game live, homecoming activities reached a fever pitch long before the teams hit the field to play on Friday night. As in all Dino Spartan match-ups, both teams were ready to step up their level of play a bit. Pride was more at stake than anything else.
In the end Emery succeeded in taking down the Dinos and spoiling any hopes of a homecoming upset by taking the game 34-6.
With all the hype, this was one of the biggest games that Carbon has had to face for a long time. Coach Tiller felt like this was a great atmosphere and a huge experience for his young team to have to face. For a team turning its program around, having a game filled with so much excitement and distractions was an education for the squad.
Emery received the kick-off and started down the field. The Dinos forced a turnover and it looked like they might be the first to score. But before they could make their move, Emery swiped it right back with an interception. They scored.
Interceptions were the downfall for Carbon in the first quarter. They turned it over four times leading to three scores for the Spartans. After the final touchdown of the quarter, the Dinos blocked the extra point and that fed into some momentum for the squad. They drove down the field and were on the three yard line looking to punch it in at the end of the quarter.
But the break in the play slowed down the momentum and in the end they turned the ball over on downs. One more turn over in the half led to another six for the Spartans, but then Carbon began to hold its own against the stronger team. They went into the half down 26-0.
Recharged after the half, the Dinos held Emery scoreless for the third quarter of play. They were able to put the ball into the end zone in the third, but it was called back on a holding call, negating the points. Again the team turned it over on downs.
The Spartans put the ball into the end zone in the fourth and ran a conversion to tack on two more. But despite being down 34-0, Carbon refused to lay down and quit. They wanted to erase the goose egg up on their side of the board. In the final minutes of the game, they drove it down into the red zone one more time. This time they were able to get Jordan Tatton across the line to finish with six. They tried for two with nothing to lose and they were shut down by the Spartans.
Coach Tiller felt like his team was prepared for the game, but it takes a while to get them out of tunnel vision. They had the skills to beat Emery, but maybe not the vision quite yet. He knows that QB Joey Keller has to take the heat for the interceptions, but he will be starting the rest of the season. “There is no quarterback controversy, Keller is doing what he needs to do.” He added, “We moved the ball well, but with only 14 kids, it is hard to beat bigger and stronger squads. They played their hearts out.” He also stated that Tyson Stevens and Davey Cox played some great ball in the loss.
Now the team takes the lessons learned and moves forward with a game against Juan Diego on Friday. The game will be a rare road game for the team. Juan Diego is also coming off a loss this past week so it should be an exciting game for two teams wanting to get back on track. Game time will be at 7:00 p.m. at Juan Diego.