Eagles win big at Sedan

SEDAN -- Uniontown rolled to a 56-26 non-league victory here Friday night as the Eagles opened their season a week late after Altoona-Midway decided to cancel its varsity football season.

Sedan led 26-20 at the half but Uniontown outscored the Devils 32-0 in the second half. It was the Eagles' first victory in eight-man football.

"Sedan gave us some looks that caused us to struggle in the first half, " Uniontown head coach Chad Stroud said. "But Coach (Aaron) Law and Coach (Jim) Mason made some great adjustments at half for our offensive linemen. Up front, we executed much better the second half and our offense was able to gain some momentum. The defense was lights out the second half."

The Eagles went out to an 8-0 lead after Montana Beerbower recovered an onside kick to start the game. Uniontown also scored on the last play before the half.

"That was huge," Stroud said. "It not only gave us an emotional boost going into the locker room, but we were also going to be receiving the second-half kickoff."

Uniontown gained 385 yards of total offense, with 358 coming on the ground on 60 rushes, for an average of nearly six yards per carry. The defense held Sedan (1-1) to just 64 yards rushing and 263 total yards.

Garrett Murrow rushed for 178 yards for the Eagles and scored on four 2-point conversions. John Reed ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Dakota Wiley scored three rushing touchdowns and connected with Brenton Esslinger for a passing TD.

Defensively, Skyler Riley made nine tackles and intercepted a pass. Esslinger was credited with eight tackles while Murrow was in on seven tackles.

An area of concern for Stroud was penalties as Uniontown committed 10 for 73 yards.

"Too many penalties, which is somewhat expected being our first game," Stroud said. "We have to clean those up if we are going to be able to compete with Crest next week. Kyle Hammond is one of the best players in the state and they have a very strong supporting cast surrounding him."

Austin Jefferies suffered a knee injury in the first half. Stroud said Reed, on offense, and Gavin Miller, both freshmen, stepped up in his absence.

The Eagles play their first Three Rivers League game at Crest Friday in Colony.