Gunn propels Union to win
Union (33) vs. Vincentian Academy (22)
Written: Sep 19, 2015
 By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News
The Union High football team struggled last week in a nonconference loss to Bishop Canevin.
Scotties coach Stacy Robinson started with his quarterback Joe Gunn on Monday to make sure that didn’t carry over to Friday night’s game.
Mission accomplished.
Gunn accounted for five touchdowns, including four on scoring runs, to guide Union to a 33-22 Big Seven Conference home win over Vincentian Academy.
The Scotties (2-0 conference, 2-1 overall) were shut down last week on the road by Bishop Canevin in a 31-6 setback.
“Joe played great,” Union coach Stacy Robinson said. “I was hard on him all week. He didn’t have a good game last week and he knew that. It’s a testament to him, he buckled up his chinstrap and led us to victory.”
The Scotties are in sole possession of second place in the Big Seven Conference. Shenango leads the way at 3-0 in conference and overall.
Gunn, a senior and New Castle transfer, was 12 of 22 through the air for 151 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He rushed for 99 yards on 15 carries and four touchdowns.
Gunn’s first touchdown tote came on a 48-yard scamper on a second-and-nine play with 4:58 to play in the second quarter. He sprinted left along the sideline, then cut it up toward the middle of the field and raced into the end zone, weaving in and out of traffic, for the score. Garrison Bell booted the extra point for a 7-0 buffer.
“I’ve been here a long time. That ranks pretty high with some of the best runs I’ve seen, and I’ve seen some good runs from some of my guys,” Robinson said. “That’s all on Joe. That had nothing to do with me. The play broke down, but that’s what athletes do. I don’t feel ashamed about it because athletes win games.”
Said Gunn of his long scoring dash, “I was running. For a split second I thought I was going to go out of bounds. Then I made a move and the flood gates opened. It was wide open. I made another move and it was off to the races. I was back to pass. Plays break down sometimes and you have to make plays.”
But the celebration didn’t last long because the Royals (0-1, 0-3) returned the ensuing kickoff to Union’s 34. Three plays later, Paul Adams cashed in a nine-yard scoring jaunt and Cam Kreutzer drilled the extra point to knot the count at 7.
“Kick coverage is something we have to work on,” Robinson said. “We still have to work on all facets of our game. But that was uncalled for. We had just shifted momentum and they got it right back.”
Gunn helped the Scotties wrestle the momentum back heading into halftime when he led the hosts on an eight-play, 72-yard drive that took just under three minutes. He capped the drive on a one-yard sneak with 33 seconds to go giving Union a 13-7 halftime lead.
Vincentian Academy had no answers for Gunn after halftime. Union took the second-half kickoff and Gunn needed just four plays to hook up with Anthony Bertolino on an 11-yard touchdown toss. Gunn ran the two-point conversion in for a 21-7 advantage.
The Scotties recovered the onside kick and Gunn got the Scotties marching again, this time from just inside Royals territory.
“(Assistant) Coach (John) Bertolino did see something,” Robinson said of Vincentian Academy’s kickoff return team formation. “That’s his area of expertise. He’s been around for a long time, I told him, do what you have to do. He did see something and it worked for us.”
The move paid off as Gunn guided Union to the Royals’ 1. On fourth-and-goal, Gunn recorded another one-yard sneak for a touchdown.
“At the end of the day, I just want to win,” Gunn said. “Whether I have four rushing touchdowns, four passing touchdowns, four lead blocks, four tackles, I just want to win.”
Gunn acknowledged that Robinson wanted a better performance from the Scotties and it started with the starting quarterback.
“Coach Rob is a perfectionist,” Gunn said of Robinson. “He’s very heavy on doing everything right. We’ll run the same play five times in a row to do it right. Being crisp with everything and not loafing through practice. He stays on me all the time.
“It started off Monday at practice. We thought we didn’t have a really good week of practice last week so we started off on the right foot with a good day of practice. Then we just had a good third day and a good fourth day. The better you prepare the better you play. That kind of showed up.”
(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)
VINCENTIAN UNION
12 First downs 19
199 Yards Rushing 183
12 Yards Lost 34
187 Net Rushing 149
10 Passes Attempted 22
3 Passes Completed 12
0 Passes Intercepted 1
40 Yards Passing 151
227 Total Yards 300
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
1-38 Punts-Average 2-27.5
7-58 Penalties-Yards 7-58
VINCENTIAN 0 7 7 8 — 22
UNION 0 13 14 6 — 33
Scoring plays
UNION — Joe Gunn, 48-yard run (Garrison Bell kick).
VINCENTIAN ACADEMY — Paul Adams, 9-yard run (Cam Kreutzer kick).
UNION — Gunn, 1-yard run (kick blocked).
UNION — Anthony Bertolino, 11-yard pass from Gunn (Gunn run).
UNION — Gunn, 1-yard run (kick blocked).
VINCENTIAN ACADEMY — Nick Barto, 9-yard run (Kreutzer kick).
UNION — Gunn, 1-yard run (pass failed).
VINCENTIAN ACADEMY — Adams, 8-yard run (Adams run).
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