Union falls behind early against Northgate
Union (6) vs. Northgate (41)
Written: Sep 10, 2016
 By Shawn Fox
New Castle News
PITTSBURGH — Big plays early doomed the Union High football team Friday night against Northgate.
The host Flames raced out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter en route to a 41-6 victory over the Scotties in a WPIAL 1A Big Seven Conference game at Northgate Alumni Stadium.
“We’ve seen that from Northgate,” Union coach Stacy Robinson said of the Flames’ quick start. “We tried to prepare our kids for the speed of the game, but obviously we didn’t. We were behind the 8- ball right from the beginning.”
Northgate (2-0 Big Seven and overall) used a grand total of one minute and 40 seconds to score a pair of offensive touchdowns in the opening frame. The Flames’ other first-quarter score came on a 78-yard punt return by Mike Allen.
“We have athletes and feel we can put these kids in position to be successful,” Northgate coach T.J. Wiley said. “We felt there were some things that we could exploit and we did that. We knew if we could jump out on them early, we could wear them down. It was good to get that lead.”
The Flames got their offense going just three plays into the game, as Kenny Azzarello broke free on a 57-yard touchdown run. The point-after snap went over the head of holder Surron Adams, but he corralled the loose ball and hit Chase Rowsey for the two-point conversion pass to give the hosts a quick 8-0 less than a minute and a half into the contest.
After Surron Adams recovered a fumble to end Union’s next possession, the Flames struck again. Stefon Adams connected with Allen on a 77-yard TD strike on the first play from scrimmage to hike the host’s lead to 14-0 with 4:06 remaining in the first quarter. Allen hauled in four of Stefon Adams’ aerials for 173 yards. Stefon Adams completed 6 of 10 passes for 179 yards in the contest.
The Scotties (0-2, 0-3) were forced to punt on their next possession. Allen took Tre'von Charles’ punt at his own 22-yard line and scampered the distance to give the Flames a 21-0 edge.
“Once we jumped up 21-0, it helped,” Wiley said. “But, I didn’t feel comfortable at all. With Union’s athletes, I was a nervous wreck all week.”
Surron Adams’ 10-yard scoring run with 8:35 remaining in the third quarter hiked the hosts’ lead to 28-0 before Union found the end zone.
The Scotties put together a seven-play, 57-yard scoring drive that was capped when Charles hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Benedict. The PAT kick failed, but Union cut the deficit to 28-6 with five minutes to go in the third quarter.
Benedict was a bright spot for the Scotties. The freshman signal-caller completed his first four pass of the game, finishing 7 of 16 through the air for 87 yards.
“Tyler’s done well,” Robinson said. “He’s a youngster and he’s going to make mistakes, and we’re asking him to do too much because we’re down in games. But, he’s a good kid who wants to be good, and that’s the main thing. He’ll get much better.”
Union attempted an on-side kick following the score, but it was scooped up by Dan Brown, who returned it 41 yards to the Union 15.
Two plays later, Surron Adams scored from 8 yards out to increase the Flames’ lead to 35-6.
Surron Adams closed out the scoring just 13 seconds later, when he stepped in front of a Benedict pass and raced 30 yards for the score to make it 41-6 with 3:43 remaining in the third quarter.
“We’ve got to get things straightened out pretty fast, or it’s going to be a long ride,” Robinson said. “The sun’s going to come up in the morning, and I’m going to try to come up with a plan.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com).
UNION NORTHGATE
10 First downs 9
110 Yards Rushing 202
40 Yards Lost 7
70 Net Rushing 195
17 Passes Attempted 10
8 Passes Completed 6
1 Passes Intercepted 0
91 Yards Passing 179
161 Total Yards 374
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
4-37.5 Punts-Average 0-0
5-40 Penalties-Yards 11-102
UNION 0 0 6 0 — 6
NORTHGATE 21 0 20 0 — 41
Scoring plays
NORTHGATE — Kenny Azzarello, 57-yard run (Surron Adams pass to Chase Rowsey).
NORTHGATE — Mike Allen, 77-yard pass from Stefon Adams (kick failed).
NORTHGATE — Allen, 78-yard punt return (Heman Darjee kick).
NORTHGATE — Surron Adams, 10-yard run (Darjee kick).
UNION — Trev'on Charles, 23-yard pass from Tyler Benedict (kick failed).
NORTHGATE — Surron Adams, 8-yard run (Darjee kick).
NORTHGATE — Surron Adams, 30-yard interception return (kick failed).
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