Blend of old, new sparks Union win
Union (27) vs. Western Beaver (0)
Written: Sep 24, 2012
  By Dan Irwin
New Castle News
Sometimes, the familiar can calm you down.
But it’s the unexpected that can really lift you up.
Union High quarterback Joe Salmen demonstrated that last night in the Scotties’ Homecoming contest against Western Beaver. After the two teams played a scoreless first half, Salmen used a generous helping of tried-and-true with just a dash of never-before, and Union rolled to a 27-0 WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference win.
“We had to make some adjustments at halftime, and I had to settle the kids down and tell them they were pressing too hard,” Union head coach Stacy Robinson said. “We made some adjustments, and we came out and started executing.”
Salmen noted that Robinson told him to just stay calm and to play his game.
“He seeing things that I was comfortable with, and he ran them,” the senior signal-caller said. “He ran the stuff that’s been working for us all year. We kind of got the script in the first half, but we weren’t executing.”
The reboot took effect immediately, as Union (2-1 in the conference, 3-1 overall) received the third-quarter kickoff and put together a five-play, 54-yard scoring drive. Tight end Tre Major, playing his first game since dislocating a shoulder earlier in the season, beat man coverage over the middle to haul in a 24-yard touchdown pass from Salmen.
But it was a “where did that come from?” play two series later that seemed to open the floodgates.
On first down following a shanked Western Beaver punt, Salmen took the snap and headed right with Drew Robinson on a rarely seen option play. Salmen faked a pitch to Robinson, then cut the play back up the middle and raced 38 yards to paydirt.
“We run it (the option) in practice every once in a while just in case, but I think this is the first time we ran it in a game,” Salmen said. “When you see Drew, you know three guys are going to chase him. I knew I was going to take it the whole time.
“I stuck the ball out there and four guys drove by me and dove on Drew, and it was just open.”
The Scotties went on to add touchdowns on their final two possessions, first on an 11-yard run by Robinson (who had 71 yards on 10 carries), then on an 8-yard scamper by Wayne Seamans.
Still, the option play wasn’t the only first-time success for Salmen, who finished with 91 yards rushing on 11 carries while completing 5 of 11 passes for 77 yards.
Called upon to make his punting debut, he boomed kicks of 51, 47 and 48 yards. The last one pinned Western Beaver (0-3, 1-3) at its own 8, and Union’s defense forced a three-and-out that set up the botched punt and the subsequent option run.
“I don’t know what happened to Thunder Legs Salmen, because he never kicked like that before,” Robinson said. “He’s definitely the punter from now on. Field position changed in the second half, and you can attribute a lot of it to Joe.”
Union’s defense also settled in after intermission, led by Benjamin Young’s 39-yard interception return that set up the Scotties’ final score. After surrending 161 total yards over the first two quarters, Union allowed just 75 more in the second half.
“That’s the way we have to play — we gotta grind,” Robinson said. “We’re not going to overpower anybody, we’re not the biggest team around, so people are going to gash us every now and then for some yardage.
“The main thing is to bend but not break, and we’ve been able to do that this year for the most part.”
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*****
WESTERN BEAVER UNION
12 First downs 13
185 Yards Rushing 210
32 Yards Lost 6
153 Net Rushing 204
10 Passes Attempted 11
3 Passes Completed 5
1 Passes Intercepted 0
83 Yards Passing 77
236 Total Yards 281
4-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
5-32.2 Punts-Average 3-48.7
7-50 Penalties-Yards 9-80
WESTERN BEAVER 0 0 0 0 — 0
UNION 0 0 14 13 — 27
Scoring plays
UNION — Tre Major 24-yard pass from Joe Salmen (Salmen kick).
UNION — Salmen 38-yard run (Salmen kick).
UNION — Drew Robinson 11-yard run (kick failed).
UNION — Wayne Seamans 8-yard run (Salmen kick).
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