Burkes, Lancers rally past Union
Neshannock (13) vs. Union (12)
Written: Oct 08, 2011
By David Aromatorio
New Castle News
A football game often turns into a tale of two halves.
The Neshannock and Union high teams added their own unique wrinkle, and it turned into a thrilling 13-12 Big Seven Conference victory for the host Lancers last night.
Neshannock (1-3 conference, 3-3 overall) controlled the first quarter.
The Lancers took the opening kick and drove the ball to the Scotties’ 37, using six minutes of the quarter before the drive stalled.
Three plays later, Union (1-3, 2-4) was forced to punt.
Neshannock picked up a couple more first downs but again the drive stalled.
The Scotties ran two plays before the horn sounded to end the quarter. Union ran only six plays to Neshannock’s 17 before switching ends.
The switch ignited the Scotties’ offense, and they owned the second stanza.
Junior Carrington Bell bulled his way for 13 yards and picked up Union’s initial first down in the process.
Drew Robinson went for six yards on the next play as the Scotties crossed midfield for the first time.
Union’s drive eventually stalled at the Lancers’ 5 and it turned the ball over on downs when a Joe Salmen fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
After forcing Neshannock to punt, Salmen caught fire.
Two completions to Clifford Clark put the Scotties back in Lancers’ territory and a third to Drew Robinson put them in Neshannock’s end zone for a 6-0 halftime lead.
The third quarter was more of the same. Union added to its lead when Salmen found Clark from nine yards out for a 12-0 lead heading to the final quarter.
“I thought we were in control,” Union coach Stacey Robinson said. “But you can’t make the kind of mistakes we made and win. It catches up to you.”
It caught up to the Scotties in the fourth quarter.
To add fuel to an already heated rivalry, one of their own did it to them, sort of. Bob Burkes is a Union native and the athletic director at Neshannock. His son Ernie and his Lancers teammates turned a Scotties’ lead into a nightmare.
On a fourth-and-four play from the Union 6, Ernie Burkes pulled in a Michael Sanfilippo laser to get Neshannock on the board. Johnny Fennick’s kick added what turned out to be the winning margin.
The Lancers’ defense held on the Scotties’ next possession and forced a punt.
Union downed the ball inside the Neshannock one-foot line with less than six minutes left in the game.
Fleet-footed John Conglose ran it on first down and barely made it out of the end zone.
“I knew the ball had to be out of the end zone,” a smiling Conglose said later, “So I just reached.”
The Lancers turned to Kienan Owens next. He carried it 12 yards.
Neshannock marched to the Union 47 where Sanfilippo found Burkes behind the Union defense and threw a strike.
“I was his last read,” an ecstatic Burkes said afterward.
Union hosts Shenango in conference action at 7 p.m. Friday, while Neshannock travels to South Side Beaver at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 15.
(E-mail: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
UNION NESHANNOCK
9 First downs 14
101 Yards Rushing 191
33 Yards Lost 19
68 Net Rushing 172
17 Passes Attempted 11
8 Passes Completed 6
0 Passes Intercepted 1
152 Yards Passing 99
220 Total Yards .271
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-1
4-40 Punts-Average 4-37
6-45 Penalties-Yards 2-10
UNION 0 6 6 0 — 12
NESHANNOCK 0 0 0 13 — 13
Scoring plays
UNION — Drew Robinson, 48 yard Pass from Joe Salmen (kick failed).
UNION — Clifford Clark, 9 yard Pass from Salmen (pass failed).
NESHANNOCK — Ernie Burkes, 6 yard Pass from Michael Sanfilippo (Johnny Fennick klick).
NESHANNOCK — Burkes, 47 yard Pass from Sanfilippo (pass failed).
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