Union struggles offensively in loss to Bishop Canevin
Union (14) vs. Bishop Canevin (20)
Written: Sep 06, 2014
 By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
The magic disappeared last night from the Union High offensive attack.
Just a week after the Scotties could do no wrong on third- and fourth-down long-yardage situations, they couldn’t find a way to move the sticks no matter the distance.
Union built a 14-point first-quarter lead but couldn’t hang on in dropping a 20-14 nonconference home decision to Bishop Canevin last night.
The Scotties were 2 for 6 on third-down conversion attempts and 0 for 2 on fourh-down attempts. One fourth down attempt was just a yard, while five of those failed third down tries were for a combined distance of 22 yards.
“We did nothing right tonight,” Union coach Stacy Robinson said. “Last week, we were flawless in some of our third- and fourth-down conversions. We did nothing right tonight. That’s my job as a coach, to get them better.
“This is a disappointing loss. To go up 14-0 and let them come back, give them credit. They came back and stuck to their game plan. They were patient. They just wore us down and beat us on every aspect of the ball after the first quarter.”
The Crusaders pounded the ball 51 times on the ground for 228 yards. All 15 of Bishop Canevin’s offensive plays in the fourth quarter were running plays as the team put the game away.
“The ground game was key, its something we’ve stressed all year that we felt would be something we’d do a lot,” Crusaders coach Darren Schoppe said. “We weren’t going to shy away from it. We were going to try and establish the running game and be physical.
“We felt we could outplay them in the fourth quarter, which I thought we did.”
Jordan Best, who scored four touchdowns last week in a 26-22 win over Rochester, reached the end zone twice more last night.
Best opened the scoring when he returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown with 2:32 remaining in the first quarter. He caught the ball in traffic and weaved his way through the first wave of defenders and raced into the end zone. Garrison Bell booted the extra point for a 7-0 Scotties lead.
Best dashed 69 yards on a run with two seconds left in the opening stanza and Bell’s boot lifted Union to a 14-0 lead.
“Jordan is a big-time player. He proved that last week and he proved it again this week,” Robinson said. “I’m just glad we have him because we never got in sync on offense the whole night. I’m glad he made some big plays to keep us in the game.”
Best finished with 88 yards rushing on seven carries.
“Best was definitely a concern for us,” Schoppe said. “He’s a great athlete; he’ll be a tough kid to stop all year.”
Union (1-1) nursed a 14-7 lead at the half courtesy of a late defensive stop on a sack to close the first half. The Scotties took the second-half kickoff and three plays later they were faced with a fourth-and-one on Bishop Canevin’s 41.
Best took the handoff and fought through the line and the ball was marked just outside the 40. After a measurement, the Crusaders took over with Best coming up inches short of a first down.
“I think we could have put them on their heels a little bit and give us some confidence there with a first down,” Robinson said. “I thought we got it. It’s a game of inches, though, and we came up short on that one.”
The Crusaders (1-1) drove 50 yards later in the third period for the tying score on an Amaan Bridgett 11-yard touchdown reception from Reed Kelosky with 2:40 remaining.
Union had a shot to re-claim the lead, but Kelosky intercepted an Anthony Rush pass in the end zone with 11:18 to go in the game. The Crusaders then methodically marched 80 yards in nine plays, capped off by Kelosky’s four-yard touchdown run with 7:29 to go. The extra point failed, though.
The Scotties had two more cracks at a win. The first went three plays and a punt, and the final attempt started at their own 13 and ended on a turnover on downs on their own 28 with 1:42 left.
Union returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday when it travels to Vincentian Academy for a Big Seven Conference clash. It will mark the first meeting between the schools.
“I don’t know much about them yet. I don’t take anybody lightly,” Robinson said. “We don’t have any easy games and haven’t had any in years.
“We’ll see what they’re doing on film. I imagine they’ll be a talented team.”
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
BISHOP CANEVIN UNION
19 First downs 6
241 Yards Rushing 139
13 Yards Lost 19
228 Net Rushing 120
12 Passes Attempted 15
8 Passes Completed 5
0 Passes Intercepted 1
89 Yards Passing 67
317 Total Yards 187
2-0 Fumbles-Lost 2-0
5-29-4 Punts-Average 4-21.5
6-50 Penalties-Yards 3-30
BISHOP CANEVIN 0 7 7 6 — 20
UNION 14 0 0 0 — 14
Scoring plays
UNION — Jordan Best, 69-yard punt return (Garrison Bell kick).
UNION — Best, 69-yard run (Bell kick).
BISHOP CANEVIN — Dom Palmosina, 9-yard pass from Reed Kelosky (Ryan Durbin kick).
BISHOP CANEVIN — Amaan Bridgett 11-yard pass from Kelosky (Durbin kick).
BISHOP CANEVIN — Kelosky, 4-yard run (kick failed).
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