Colgan forces Eagles to play waiting game

Uniontown running back Gavin Fry (42) fights for yardage with help from teammates Nick Hathaway (66) and Ty Griffiths (68) during the second quarter of Thursday night’s game at Pittsburg. Fry rushed 10 times for 29 yards against a stiff Colgan defense in a 57-8 loss.

Scott Nuzum/Tribune

PITTSBURG — When a team is faced with playing Colgan on its home field, it faces a tough enough challenge. But when a team is able to dress only 13 players, as Uniontown did here Thursday night, the task becomes even more daunting.

So, while disappointing, the outcome of this Class 2-1A District 4 contest in Colgan’s favor by a 57-8 score wasn’t unexpected. It gave the Panthers (3-0 district, 7-2 overall) the district championship and forced the Eagles (1-2, 4-5) into playing a different game.

The waiting game.

Uniontown wasn’t eliminated from the playoffs with the loss. But the Eagles needed Oswego to beat Yates Center Friday night. And the Indians rallied late and came very close — but the Wildcats won 20-18 and took the second playoff spot from the district.

Yates Center (2-1, 3-6) will travel to take on District 3 champion Olpe (7-2) Friday night while Colgan will host Lyndon (8-1). Olpe defeated Lyndon in five overtimes, 41-33.

Colgan’s first two scores came on pass plays from quarterback Brian Hutchins to receiver Jeremiah Buche. The first came from 38 yards out with barely five minutes off the clock. The next came about two minutes later from 9 yards out. They were Hutchins’ only pass attempts of the night.

Max Wilson scored on a 31-yard run with 5:11 left in the first quarter, two plays after the Panthers recovered a fumble, to make it 21-0. Then on the first play after an interception, Cal Marquardt ran 38 yards to the end zone on a jet sweep to the right, making it 28-0 with 4:11 to go.

Domenic Bevilacqua’s 36-yard run up the middle made it 35-0 with 37 seconds left in the first period.

Wilson scored his second touchdown on a 66-yard interception return with 10:17 left in the second quarter. Cade Simmons ran in from 12 yards out with 6:14 left in the half, making it 49-0 and prompting the officials to start the running clock early.

Hayden Miller got the Eagles on the board on a 20-yard run with 8 1/2 minutes to go in the third and Gavin Fry ran in the 2-point conversion.

Blaise Dawson scored on a 6-yard run for Colgan with 8:27 left in the game and Kannon Keller ran in a 2-point conversion.

The Eagles saw two players injured in the game, but one came back in the second half. They were only able to suit up 12 players the previous two weeks but scored a victory over Oswego and lost to Yates Center by just two points.

Colgan finished the game with 302 yards rushing on 34 carries, 211 of them in the first half, and 349 yards in total offense. Wilson rushed for 117 yards on 10 carries and Simmons gained 70 on 8 rushes.

Uniontown finished with 153 yards of total offense, gaining 131 yards on 26 carries. Miller rushed for 50 yards on 7 carries and quarterback Ty Davidson ran for 46 on 7 totes and also completed 2 passes for 22 yards, both to Miller.

UNIONTOWN....................... 0 0 8 0 — 8

ST. MARY’S-COLGAN..... 35 14 0 8 — 57

Scoring plays

First quarter

C — Buche 38 pass from Hutchins (Orender kick), 9:56 [6, 59, 2:03]

C — Buche 9 pass from Hutchins (Orender kick), 7:59 [3, 43, :44]

C — M.Wilson 31 run (Orender kick), 5:11 [2, 43, :39]

C — Marquardt 38 run (Orender kick), 4:11 [1, 38, :09]

C — Bevilacqua 36 run (Orender kick), :37 [5, 45, 2:33]

Second quarter

C — M.Wilson 66 interception return (Orender kick), 10:17

C — Simmons 12 run (Orender kick), 6:14 [5, 56, 2:23]

Third quarter

U — Miller 20 run (Fry run), 8:31 [6, 62, 2:49]

Fourth quarter

C — Dawson 6 run (Keller run), 8:27 [12, 51, 9:05]

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Uniontown — Miller 7-50, Davidson 7-46, Fry 10-29, Reed 2-6. Colgan — M.Wilson 10-117, Simmons 8-70, Marquardt 1-38, Bevilacqua 1-36, keller 4-14, Dawson 5-13, VanBecelaere 2-11, Hutchins 2-2, Wood 1-1.

PASSING: Uniontown — Davidson 2-14-2-22. Colgan — Hutchins 2-2-0-47.

RECEIVING: Uniontown — Miller 2-22. Colgan — Buche 2-47.

MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.