'The U' puts it all together against Riverside
Union (27) vs. Riverside (18)
Written: Oct 10, 2015
By Joe Sager
New Castle News
NORTH SEWICKLEY TWP. — It was all about The U — and a little O and a lot of D — Friday night.
Union’s defense produced five Riverside turnovers in the final frame and the offense capitalized for a huge 27-18 road win last night in a WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference battle.
Trailing 18-15 after three quarters, the Scotties (3-2 conference, 3-3 overall) forced three fumbles and scored points off two of them. Then they intercepted two passes to seal the win over the Panthers (1-3, 2-4).
Overall, Union forced six turnovers on the evening.
“They were ball hawking. I told them we had to have 11 hats on the ball. They bought into it all week,” Union coach Stacy Robinson said. “We knew no one is going to give anything to us; we have to take it. Our guys came out and played a great game on both sides of the ball.
“I’ve been here 19 years and this is one of the best victories we’ve had. We got a gut check from everybody. We all had to band together, stick together and we fought to the end. That’s a good football team over there. They have a good quarterback and skill people. I couldn’t be happier for my guys.”
The Scotties were able to prevail without starting quarterback Joe Gunn. He injured a shoulder in last week’s 35-6 setback to Shenango. Senior Randy DeJohn filled in and had a solid night. He completed 15 of 28 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once, but it came late and on a fourth-down play.
“Well we always tell the guys that they either get better or they get worse — there is no in between,” Robinson said. “Randy got better. From the start of the game, he improved 100 percent.”
DeJohn was happy to contribute to the key conference triumph.
“This win is absolutely great. I was very nervous coming into the game since I am the backup quarterback,” he said. “But my team helped me and supported me and we got going.”
Jordan Best’s 36-yard run gave Union a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter, but the Panthers came back to post a 12-7 halftime edge with a late score.
The hosts went up 18-7 late in the third, but the Scotties raced back with a quick answer. DeJohn found Best for a 24-yard scoring strike with 59 seconds left on the clock. Garrison Bell hauled in the conversion pass to trim the deficit to 18-15.
Union pounced on a fumble on Riverside’s first drive of the fourth. Quickly, the Scotties turned it into points when DeJohn hit Gary Brewton for a 22-yard scoring strike. It gave Union the lead for good, 21-18, with 6:48 to go.
On the Panthers’ next possession, Chris Hill ripped the ball out of Austin Dambach’s hands and returned it 40 yards to the 6. Two plays later, Best cashed it in for a TD and a 27-18 lead with 5:30 left.
The Scotties recovered a fumble on Riverside’s next drive. Quarterback Jason Dambach was hit as he went to pass and Union recovered at the 10 with 5:17 to play. DeJohn was intercepted in the end zone on fourth down to end that threat.
However, Union sealed the win with interceptions on the next two Panthers possessions.
“The defense was great,” DeJohn said. “They got us some turnovers and we started produce.”
The victory put the Scotties on the cusp of a playoff berth. They welcome Fort Cherry next week for a nonconference test of wills before closing conference action with games against Western Beaver and Neshannock.
“We have to keep on going. We won’t climb up to the top of the mountain and yell yet,” Robinson said. “We have to get ready and keep it on an even keel. We don’t get too high over the wins and we don’t get too low when we lose. So, we’ll keep going and try to keep the train rolling next week.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
UNION RIVERSIDE
18 First downs 23
161 Yards Rushing 222
21 Yards Lost 13
140 Net Rushing 209
28 Passes Attempted 25
15 Passes Completed 13
1 Passes Intercepted 2
190 Yards Passing 155
330 Total Yards 364
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 5-4
2-40.5 Punts-Average 1-16
9-73 Penalties-Yards 10-100
UNION 0 7 8 12 — 27
RIVERSIDE 6 6 6 0 — 18
Scoring plays
RIVERSIDE — Garrett Bishop, 3-yard run (kick failed).
UNION — Jordan Best, 36-yard run (Gary Brewton kick).
RIVERSIDE — Vinny Loccisano, 12-yard pass from Jason Dambach (pass failed).
RIVERSIDE — Ricky Wass, 5-yard run (pass failed).
UNION — Best, 24-yard pass from Randy DeJohn (Garrison Bell pass from DeJohn).
UNION — Brewton, 22-yard pass from DeJohn (kick failed).
UNION — Best, 2-yard run (kick failed).
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