Emery punched its ticket to the 2A state championship game, defeating Summit Academy 31-20 Saturday thanks to a strong first half offensively.
Emery quarterback Treven Gilbert threw for 247 yards and four touchdowns, with all of the scores coming in the first half.
“It is really exciting to be in this position. We worked so hard and it’s nice to see the kids be rewarded this way. They played great and I’m just really happy about the win,” said Emery head coach Jon Faimalo.
Four different receivers found the end zone for Emery — Porter Hurdsman, Deacon Mangum, Ty Yost and Braxton Butler. Hurdsman led the way with 95 receiving yards.
Emery led 28-14 at halftime, and while the offense cooled somewhat in the second half, The 2 seed remained disciplined and sustained long drives, doing just enough to see the game out.
“Offensively we had a great first half. We passed the ball well and got enough stops when we needed to. Second half we didn’t play as well but we did enough to finish it off and I’m proud with the way the guys finished it off,” said Faimalo.
With the win, Emery meets San Juan in the championship game. San Juan embarrassed Emery earlier in the season, 61-20. Faimalo knows what his team is up against, and if it wants any chance at revenge, he knows it’s going to have to start with preparation.
“San Juan is a different animal for sure,” he said. “They’re a really good team and they execute well at a high level. We’re going to do our best to prepare and come with our best possible game.
“They’re a good team, they have a lot of history, we’ve played them a lot of times and they seemed to always have our number. Hopefully next Saturday we can figure them out and come out on top.”
It has been a long time since Emery has found itself in this position. You have to go back all the way to 1999 for the last time Emery was in the championship game.
Faimalo believes that his players will be up for it and will treat it just like any other game.
“It’s been a really long time since Emery has been in this position. We have to approach the game as if we don’t know any differently and treat it just like any other game,” he said.
“We’ll just try to play our game and preparation is the biggest thing for us.”