The Emporia High football team couldn’t overcome a slow start in a 57-14 loss over Junction City Friday night.
Junction City scored the first 22 points before Emporia High got on the board. Freshman Micah Gray found senior Sheldon Stewart for a 77-yard touchdown reception with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.
The touchdown was the first score for Emporia High in just over their last nine quarters of games played.
Junction City made it 29-7 before Rylan Crowell scored a 77-yard touchdown to make it 29-14.
After that, it was all Junction City.
Crowell had 130 yards on 19 carries and two catches for 10 yards. Gray was 5-of-18 for 86 yards and a touchdown. Stewart had 83 yards on two catches, four carries for 18 yards, and was 1-of-2 for five yards.
Emporia High enters the postseason as the No. 15 seed in the 5A east bracket. The Spartans will travel to Overland Park to face Blue Valley Southwest on Friday. It’ll be the second straight year that the two teams have met in the playoffs.
