Monaca rolls past Union in final meeting
Union (6) vs. Monaca (44)
Written: Oct 03, 2009
By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
MONACA — Monaca High has built a solid tradition on the football field.
However, the program and its accomplishments will be relegated to the history books after this season. Monaca and Center will consolidate next year to form Central Valley High.
Stacy Robinson and his Union troops won’t shed many tears over seeing the Indians leave the Big Seven Conference as they rolled to a 44-6 triumph over the Scotties last night.
“They have tradition at Monaca,” he said. “Unfortunately for them, it’s going to end, but they are doing a good job this year in their last season.”
The Indians (2-1 conference, 3-2 overall) moved into a second-place tie with Laurel in the loop standings. They can thank Joe Colangelo for it. The senior did it all for Monaca. He rushed for 129 yards with two touchdowns on 21 carries, hauled in a 31-yard TD pass and returned an interception 36 yards to pay dirt.
“He’s a good running back,” Robinson said. “He has a great atmosphere to play football in; he’s just a good football player. Their line comes off the ball well, which helps him a lot.”
The Indians can thank the Scotties (0-3, 1-4), too. Monaca translated two Union turnovers into touchdowns and stopped the Scotties in the red zone three times on the evening.
“We stressed to our kids that we hadn’t played a full game up to this point. I don’t think we had played a full four quarters. I think we finally put it together against Union,” Monaca coach Sam Cercone said. “We still had some mistakes and penalties – we still have some things to work on.”
The hosts marched 71 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive. Colangelo’s pick-six gave the Indians a 14-0 edge 1:32 later. Union had two chances at quick redemption, though.
The Scotties turned the ball over on downs at the Monaca 2. After a Damian Trott interception, Union failed to punch the ball in from the 5. The Indians made the guests pay as they drove 88 yards and reached the end zone on Colangelo’s TD catch.
“We had our opportunities to make a ballgame out of it. They are too good of a team to give breaks,” Robinson said. “We shot ourselves in the foot, in the thigh, the whole part of the leg all night.”
Anthony Forletta hit Matt Moore for a 53-yard scoring strike to cut the deficit to 20-6 with 1:33 remaining in the half. That big play appeared to sway the momentum in Union’s favor.
Not so fast. Six plays later, Matt Bradford fired a 19-yard TD pass to Robert Foster to give the Indians a 26-6 edge heading into halftime.
“That was big,” Cercone said. “I told our offensive coordinator that the only thing we could do to nullify their score was to score a touchdown of our own. Our kids executed very well, and we got that back.”
The play appeared to have a lasting effect on the Scotties. They fumbled on their second play of the second half and failed to find much offense in the final two quarters.
“That’ll take the taste out of your mouth real quick,” Robinson said. “We have some players; we can execute in spurts. But, you can’t win football games by executing in spurts. We’re going to keep knocking wood; we’ve got to win some football games. We’re not going to quit; we’re going to be after it again.”
Three more second-half turnovers stymied Union’s comeback bid.
“Anytime you have turnovers like that, it can deflate a team,” Cercone said. “I think it happened in that situation.”
UNION MONACA
5 First downs 20
41 Yards Rushing 255
12 Yards Lost 11
29 Net Rushing 244
21 Passes Attempted 12
9 Passes Completed 7
3 Passes Intercepted 1
169 Yards Passing 129
198 Total Yards 373
3-2 Fumbles-Lost 2-0
1-31 Punts-Average 0-0
2-20 Penalties-Yards 10-70
UNION 0 6 0 0 — 6
MONACA 14 12 6 12 — 44
Scoring plays
MONACA — Brandon Schultz, 5-yard run (Joe Colangelo run).
MONACA — Colangelo, 36-yard interception return (pass failed).
MONACA — Colangelo, 31-yard pass from Matt Bradford (run failed).
UNION — Matt Moore, 53-yard pass from Anthony Forletta (kick blocked).
MONACA — Robert Foster, 10-yard pass from Bradford (kick failed).
MONACA — Colangelo, 3-yard run (kick failed).
MONACA — Colangelo, 35-yard run (kick failed).
MONACA — Justin Shaw, 4-yard run (pass failed).
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