Scotties put it all together against Avella
Union (35) vs. Avella (0)
Written: Sep 10, 2011
By Joe Sager
New Castle News
AVELLA — It was all about The U last night.
Union High dominated offensively and defensively in a lopsided 35-0 nonconference win at Avella.
“There were a lot of positives. I can go up and down the list. It was a group effort and a lot of people did a good job for us,” Union coach Stacy Robinson said. “The main thing with the team, and I always tell them that it’s like a tree; it’s either growing or it’s dying — you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. So, hopefully, we’re taking a step in the right direction and getting better.”
The Scotties (1-1) were stifled in last week’s 35-14 loss at Chartiers-Houston. Extreme humidity played a factor in wearing down Union’s small roster. Last night, though, conditions were ideal and the team thrived.
“It was a big win. Last week was a tough loss. It was hot and the heat really messed us up a lot,” said Union running back Drew Robinson, the coach’s son. “We knew we needed to get the win before going into Big Seven Conference play. This was a big one for us.”
Drew Robinson helped propel the Scotties to the victory with a pair of long video game-like touchdown runs. His first came in the opening quarter on the game’s first drive. The junior attempted to run right, but reversed fields, turned on the jets and scooted down the left side for a 49-yard score just 2:19 into the battle.
The junior tallied the Scotties’ second TD in the second frame. This time, he tried to go around the left side, but changed his mind and cut up the middle, spun off three Eagles and found his way into the end zone.
“I was trying to cut back a lot. It was just good blocking for me,” he said. “We have a lot of athletes on the team. We know that, so we try to use our speed a lot. You can’t just focus on one person; you have to watch everybody. So, if you stop one of us, someone else is coming up.”
Drew Robinson finished with 138 yards on just seven carries — all in the first half.
“We have some running backs, and Drew is one of them, where we ask our line just to get a hat on a hat and let our running backs do what they do,” Stacy Robinson said. “We did a good job with that.”
Two other running backs got into the end zone in the second quarter. Carrington Bell scored on a 3-yard run. Union turned an Avella (0-2) fumble into a TD 59 seconds later when John Clark broke loose for a 6-yard paydirt scamper and a 28-0 halftime lead.
That outburst helped the Scotties gain separation after a somewhat sloppy first quarter.
“Avella, I give their guys credit and I am not just one of those people here to send out platitudes and all that. They came out fighting and they tried to play. Fortunately, we were able to overcome some mistakes and get over top of them for the win,” Stacy Robinson said. “In a way, believe it or not, I am kind of glad we had to eke it out, as far as time and not scoring right away because our guys have to be ready to play a full four-quarter game. Last week, we tired out, so we need to play ourselves into shape. It was a good win all around.”
Tyrone May pushed Union’s advantage to 35-0 with 3:56 left in the third quarter on a 43-yard punt return. He managed to sneak down the left sideline and through a labyrinth of Eagles and into the end zone. The score — and Joe Salmen’s PAT kick — initiated a running clock via the 35-point mercy rule.
While the Scotties’ offense was racking up points, their defense stifled Avella. The Eagles finished with minus-29 yards on the ground and were limited to eight positive yards overall on the evening.
(E-mail: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
UNION AVELLA
21 First downs 2
316 Yards Rushing 12
19 Yards Lost 41
297 Net Rushing -29
16 Passes Attempted 16
8 Passes Completed 4
1 Passes Intercepted 2
89 Yards Passing 28
386 Total Yards -1
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
1-24 Punts-Average 8-30.3
12-110 Penalties-Yards 5-40
UNION 7 21 7 0—35
AVELLA 0 0 0 0— 0
Scoring plays
UNION — Drew Robinson, 49-yard run (Joe Salmen kick)
UNION — Robinson, 20-yard run (Salmen kick)
UNION — Carrington Bell, 3-yard run (Salmen kick)
UNION — John Clark, 6-yard run (Salmen kick)
UNION — Tyrone May, 43-yard punt return (Salmen kick)
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