Union no match for talented Rochester
Union (7) vs. Rochester (46)
Written: Sep 17, 2011
By Kayleen Cubbal
New Castle News
ROCHESTER — The Union High football team found a chink in Rochester’s armor last night.
It wasn’t enough, though, as the Rams of Shenango High graduate Gene Matsook drew on their immense talent to stop the Scotties via the mercy rule, 46-7 in Big Seven Conference action.
Union quarterback Joe Salmen was a respectable 9 of 16 through the air for 110 yards. But those completions all came in the first half and Rochester’s defense shut down the Scotties (0-1 conference, 1-2 overall) for the most part beyond that.
Clifford Clark caught seven of those passes for 76 yards.
“We had success throwing the out pattern to Clark in the first half,” Union coach Stacy Robinson said. “But you can’t throw every down. To Rochester’s credit, they are very steadfast on defense.
“I told the kids coming down that this was an opportunity to play in one of the hot spots in Pennsylvania,” he added. “Rochester lived up to their end, but we didn’t up hold up our end.”
The Rams are ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and No. 3 in the state poll.
On the negative side for the Scotties, nine rushing plays went for minus yardage, including six sacks — five in the first half.
Union reached the Rochester 31 in the second quarter, but two sacks and two incompletions ended the threat on downs.
The Scotties finally reached the end zone in the fourth quarter. A four-play, 79-yard drive ended with Clark’s 24-yard touchdown run and Salmen’s point-after kick.
DeAndre Moon finished with 136 yards on 14 carries for the Rams (1-0, 3-0), including 91 yards on seven attempts in the first quarter. Rochester had 13 players run the ball and used three quarterbacks in the game.
(E-mail: kcubbal@ncnewsonline.com)
(Sports correspondent Gaylord Muny contributed to this story)
UNION ROCHESTER
12 First downs 19
70 Net Rushing 325
16 Passes Attempted 3
9 Passes Completed 2
0 Passes Intercepted 1
110 Yards Passing 37
180 Total Yards 362
5-2 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
5-22.2 Punts-Average 0-0
2-15 Penalties-Yards 6-50
UNION 0 0 0 7 — 7
ROCHESTER 14 20 6 6 — 46
Scoring plays
ROCHESTER — DeAndre Moon, 18-yard run (Jon Johnson kick).
ROCHESTER — Moon, 6-yard run (Johnson kick).
ROCHESTER — Moon, 11-yard run (Johnson kick).
ROCHESTER — Dante Marsick, 85-yard punt return (Johnson kick).
ROCHESTER — Jay Ratti, 57-yard fumble return (kick failed).
ROCHESTER — Moon, 1-yard run (kick failed).
ROCHESTER — Levi Laird, 11-yard run (kick failed).
UNION — Robert Clark, 24-yard run (Joe Salmen kick).
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