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Draper • Down-and-distance, by traditional football reasoning, couldn't be said to be in favor of Juan Diego when it lined up for a fourth-and-1 in the first quarter Friday night.

That's because the Soaring Eagle's line of scrimmage was its own 25, but Juan Diego coach John Colosimo had a couple of things going for him.

One was the belief that his team could push ahead for a single yard. The other? A speedy back to really make the move profitable.

And that's what senior Ryan Baker did as he tore loose for a 75-yard touchdown run.

It was the first of a couple long breakaways for Baker in the first half, and Juan Diego used that first TD as a catalyst in rolling to a 38-7 victory over Emery.

"We believe that if we can't get one yard with our offense, then fine," Colosimo said. "We have a lot of confidence in our offensive line. We're not a pass-throwing offense, our kids are getting off the ball and getting downhill — and our running backs are getting their noses in there."

"I never expect to break long runs like that. I was just running as hard as I could," Baker said. "I was just thinking about getting that first down. And what do you know? I end up in the end zone."

That was late in the first quarter when Juan Diego (5-3, 4-1 in 3A North) went up 7-0. With 3:04 left in the second, Soaring Eagle quarterback Zach Hoffman broke away on a scramble and rambled 22 yards for JD's second touchdown.

Then came the backbreaker for Emery (4-5, 2-3), which was increasingly starting to struggle with the Juan Diego defense. After the Spartans put the Soaring Eagle back to the 12 on a punt-and-penalty, Baker raced to daylight again for an 88-yard touchdown gallop.

Baker, who accumulated 203 yards rushing by intermission, wasn't used again after half.

"You see a lot of green grass ahead of you," Baker said. "You just hope to get in that end zone."

Juan Diego opened the second half with a 16-yard pass from Hoffman to Nicholas Bianchi for a 28-0 lead and added another TD on an 8-yard run by Hoffman. Emery got onthe board late via a 10-yard pass from Easton Gordon to Tel Gardner.

Both teams finished their 3A North region slate with the game. While Emery has next week off, Juan Diego has a game scheduled against Canyon View in Cedar City.

After the game, Colosimo said that the non-region contest next week presents some awkwardness as Canyon View very well could be Juan Diego's opponent in the first round of the playoffs.

"We looked at it and thought that might be how it ends up," Colosimo said. "My feeling is that we're going to go out hard (next week) and try to win the football game.

"You have so few chances in football. Basketball, you have a lot of games, baseball and all the other sports," he added. "We're excited to play the game for our kids and our seniors, then we'll come back and see what happens the next Friday." —

Storylines

R Juan Diego running back Ryan Baker breaks away for touchdown runs of 75 and 88 yards in the first half and ends up with 203 yards on the night.

• Soaring Eagle quarterback Zach Hoffman has scoring on runs of 22 and 8 yards.

• With Morgan's 17-14 victory over Grantsville on Friday night, Juan Diego ends up alone in second place in the 3A North region standings behind Morgan.