Menu
Eagles win big in district play
UNIONTOWN -- The Uniontown Eagles stormed out of the gate Friday night, never relenting, crushing rival Marmaton Valley, 58-12, in a game that counted in both Three Rivers League and Eight-Man district play.
Uniontown racked up 237 yards on the ground, exploiting a soft Wildcats defensive line. The combination of Eagles tailbacks Skyler Riley and Cole Schafer, as well as fullback John Reed, was too much for the Wildcats defensive line and linebackers to handle. The ground attack also led to success in the passing game, as Wildcats defensive backs were burned for several big plays through the air.
"Our main objective every week is to run the ball," Uniontown head coach Chad Stroud said. "Our kids up front have done a great job the whole season. They're winning the battle up front every game, so far. Even the Chetopa game we lost, we felt like we won the battle up front. And those kids have just been getting better and better each week."
Reed opened Uniontown scoring on the first offensive possession as he broke off a 46-yard touchdown run. Reed also hauled in a three-yard pass from Eagle quarterback Jacob Duffey, converting the two-point conversion to put the Eagles up 8-0.
On the Eagles' next offensive possession, after quickly marching down field, tailback Caleb Schafer scampered into the end zone from 4 yards out. A successful 2-point conversion pushed the lead to 16-0 with 3:49 left the first quarter. "We were just glad they came out and got on top of Marmaton Valley early," Stroud said. "And once we had them down, we kind of kept our foot on the gas. There wasn't ever a time where we ever felt like we let up. We had some miscues on defense where we let them score a couple times, but it wasn't from lack of effort."
On the Eagles' next offensive possession, working with a short field, Riley took a broken wide-receiver reverse play in from 12 yards out. The Eagles (2-0 in Eight-Man Division I District 2, 3-1 TRL, 5-1 overall) extended the lead to 24 after wide receiver Chase Gleason caught a Duffey pass, successfully completing the 2-point conversion.
Later in the second quarter, Duffey again connected with Gleason, this time on a play-action pass resulting in a 40-yard catch and run for a touchdown. After a Reed run on the two-point conversion, the Eagles led 32-0.
"James Pearson played very well up front," Stroud said. "Chase Gleason did a great job catching the ball tonight. He was able to get open, and made a couple of nice plays on the ball when it was in the air."
The lone bright spot on the night for the Wildcats was running back Michael Genn. Genn scored on a 35-yard run with five minutes remaining before halftime. After a failed two-point conversion, the scoreboard read 32-6 Uniontown's favor.
The Eagles struck back quickly on perhaps the most exciting play of the evening when Riley took the kickoff 70 yards to the house, electrifying the home-town crowd. Schafer took a running back sweep in on the two-point conversion, as the Eagles lead ballooned to 40-12.
"I couldn't have done it without my blockers," Riley said. "They're outstanding. I wouldn't have anybody else block for me -- they're pretty good.
"I just wanted to beat them. They're our arch-rival, and so I wanted to take it to them."
It was Riley's third kick return for a touchdown this season.
"He's shown some great talent at returning kicks," Stroud said. "He's got a little shift in him, and once he gets in the open field he's got some speed to outrun that last defender. Coach Miller does a great job with our special teams. He's put Skyler in a great position."
The Wildcats (0-2, 0-3, 1-5) responded by putting together their best drive of the night, capped off by Genn plowing through Eagles defenders on his way to an 11-yard score. Just before halftime, Duffey again connected with Gleason, this time on a 13-yard touchdown pass. Uniontown went into halftime with a 46-12 lead.
With 8:31 to play in the third quarter, the Eagles extended the lead to 52-12 after Schafer scored his second rushing touchdown of the night on a 10-yard run, in which he broke several tackles on his way to pay dirt. With 3:04 remaining in the third quarter, Riley took a halfback toss in for a 3-yard touchdown extending the lead to 46 points, and ending the game via the 45-point mercy rule.
Reed finished with 116 yards rushing for the Eagles while Schafer added 64 and Riley finished with 48. Duffey passed for 83 yards on 5-of-9 passing with Gleason racking up 76 yards in receptions.
Defensively, Reed made 12 tackles, Gleason was in on 9 and Montana Beerbower had 8 tackles and a sack. Marmaton Valley was held to 159 total yards, all rushing.
Up next for Uniontown will be a strong road test against Marais des Cygnes Valley in a district game at Melvern Friday night. The Trojans (2-0 district, 5-1 overall) defeated Yates Center 64-16 Friday night. Their only loss is to undefeated Madison.
"The game will definitely be more physical than Chetopa was," Stroud said. "They may not be quite as athletic all-around. They might be the best team we played all year. It's going to be a very tough game, especially up there."