Union pulls away for win over South Side Beaver
Union (40) vs. South Beaver (20)
Written: Sep 24, 2011
By Joe Simon
New Castle News
Union High’s Drew Robinson and Joe Salmen answered at the exact same time.
“Yeah, it was personal,” they said of their game against South Side Beaver.
The Scotties illustrated how meaningful the game was with an overmatching physical style of play and relentless intensity in a 40-20 Big Seven Conference victory over the Rams last night.
The game meant more to Union (1-1 conference, 2-2 overall) not just because it was homecoming and their home opener, but also because an old friend, South Side Beaver quarterback Jon Magusiak, was on the other side.
Magusiak is a Union Township native and has plenty of family and friends still in the area, including Robinson, who said the two exchanged some friendly trash talking throughout the week.
The Scotties got the last laugh this time.
“I grew up with Jon,” said Robinson, who picked off his old buddy twice and returned one for a touchdown. “He knew that we were coming after him. He’s been talking to us about how he’s going to beat us, so we did take it personal.”
Union delivered the first blow on the opening kickoff as Carrington Bell rumbled 80 yards for a touchdown. The defense followed with a crushing blow to running back Colton Brooks on the first play from scrimmage. The Rams’ starting tailback and leading rusher left the game with a concussion and did not return.
“It was tough replacing him,” South Side Beaver coach James Winner said of Brooks. “He’s a great downhill runner. We knew we could power down inside with our size, and not having him made a huge impact for us.”
South Side Beaver (0-2, 0-4) still pieced together a scoring drive on its first possession, and Magusiak capped it with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Carlo Policastro. The teams exchanged touchdowns once more to tie the game at 14, and then the Scotties’ defense took over. It shut down the Rams’ running game (allowing only 37 first-half rushing yards) and forced them to pass. The obvious passing downs eventually led to Union picking off Magusiak four times, twice in the first half.
The Scotties first took a 21-14 lead on a 1-yard run by Salmen, the starting quarterback. The score was set up by a 44-yard screen pass from Salmen to Austin Smith on a third-and-7 play.
The defense then forced the Rams into a third-and-17, and Magusiak was picked off on an ill-advised pass toward the sideline. Robinson returned it 23 yards for a touchdown and a 27-14 lead.
“That was a big turnaround because it was still a football game at that point,” Union coach Stacy Robinson, Drew’s dad, said. “I think he helped knock ’em over the ledge a little bit with that. It was a great return. I didn’t think he was going to take it all the way in for six, but he was able to do what he does best, and that’s get in the end zone.”
Salmen put an exclamation point on the first half with a 7-yard touchdown strike to Tre Major, giving Union a 34-14 lead. Salmen finished 9-of-13 passing for 127 yards and two touchdowns and with 72 yards rushing and a TD run.
The junior said a pregame speech from a few former Scotties fired the team up. John Wojtowicz, a 1977 Union grad who played as an offensive lineman at Penn State, and Bob Carr, a ’76 graduate who served more than 20 years in the military, including stints in Afghanistan, talked to the Scotties and joined them on the sidelines for the game.
“It was emotional,” Salmen said. “I was crying. But it helped us play hard.”
Robinson scored Union’s fourth unanswered touchdown with a 20-yard jaunt in the third quarter. The score put the game out of reach and an end to the friendly battle with Magusiak, who was 13 of 25 for 152 yards and a TD.
“After the game, we were all good friends still,” Robinson said. “But on the field it’s personal, strictly business.”
S.S.BEAVER UNION
13 First downs 16
132 Yards Rushing 185
23 Yards Lost 37
109 Net Rushing 148
26 Passes Attempted 13
13 Passes Completed 9
4 Passes Intercepted 1
152 Yards Passing 127
261 Total Yards 275
1-1 Fumbles-Lost 3-3
3-29.6 Punts-Average 1-22
8-80 Penalties-Yards 10-70
S.S. BEAVER 7 7 0 6 —20
UNION 14 20 6 0 — 40
Scoring plays
UNION — Carrington Bell, 80-yard kickoff return (Joe Salmen kick).
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — Carlo Policastro, 37-yard pass from Jon Magusiak (Lucas Collet kick).
UNION — Tyrone May, 11-yard pass from Salmen (Salmen kick).
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — Jonathan Beal, 2-yard run (Collet kick).
UNION — Salmen, 1-yard run (Salmen kick).
UNION — Drew Robinson, 23-yard interception return (kick failed).
UNION — Tre Major, 7-yard pass from Salmen (Salmen kick).
UNION — Robinson, 20-yard run (run failed).
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — Nathan Block, 5-yard run (kick failed).
|