The Emporia Spartans held off a fourth quarter rally by Junction City to defeat the Blue Jays 17-12 at the Al Simpler Stadium.

Junction City ( 0-1 )scored on a rushing touchdown by Russell Wilkey with 11:56 remaining in the fourth quarter to cut an 11-point Spartans lead down to five, but trips inside the Emporia ( 1-0 ) 25-yard line in the fourth quarter produced no points for the Blue Jays.

Junction City Coach Randall Zimmerman said it was a tough loss. “In the first half we had the ball inside the 40 three different times. The defense was creating situations for our offense in the short field, and we just weren’t getting it done. We were a little bit nervous at a few positions, and had a couple of drops that hurt us, and a couple of dropped snaps in critical situations. The coach said the defense was in position most of the time and played and aggressively. “Offensively we just didn’t get it done, we just absolutely didn’t get it done.”

Junction City led 6-0 on their first series following a long touchdown run by quarterback Rooster Adams, but the Spartans took a 7-6 lead at halftime. Then at the beginning of the third quarter Emporia put another touchdown on the board and then held on for the win.

Junction City plays at Topeka High next Friday.