Royals notch first Big Seven win over Scotties
Union (20) vs. Vincentian (28)
Written: Sep 13, 2014
By Shawn Fox
New Castle News
PITTSBURGH — Vincentian Academy will always remember its first WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference victory.
Union High, on the other hand, would probably just as soon forget it.
The Royals, playing in their first conference game in program history, used a punishing ground attack last night to knock off the visiting Scotties, 28-20, at Lt. J.C. Stone Field.
“We played hard in spurts,” said Union coach Stacy Robinson, whose team dipped to 1-1 in the Big Seven and 1-2 overall. “I don’t know what the problem is. People have been taking it to us, grinding us. It’s the same old story, I don’t want to cry about it. It is what it is. That’s what we’ve got to deal with. We’ve got limited numbers and if we lose a body or two, it creates problems for us. We lost two or three bodies tonight, and we’ve got to make adjustments.”
Vincentian finished with 277 yards on the ground, and 328 yards of total offense in the game.
“We have one of the best offensive lines in single-A football,” Vincentian coach Tim Storino said. “We’ve got big, strong, athletic kids. We’ve got a couple backs who are tough kids. We don’t care who we give the ball to, we know our line is going to open up holes and someone’s just got to finish.”
The Royals, in just their third season of varsity football, got on the scoreboard first.
After a punt by Michael Tappe that pinned Union at its own 3-yard line, Paul Adams sacked Scotties quarterback Anthony Rush in the end zone for a safety to give the hosts a 2-0 lead at the 3:17 mark of the first quarter.
“It was big,” Storino said of the safety. “We did a good job of pinning them down there.”
Union’s defense got the ball back following the free kick, when Anthony Bertolino recovered a fumble by Tappe.
Taking over that the Vincentian 48, the Scotties went on a 10-play drive that was capped when Bertolino hauled in a 5-yard touchdown pass from Rush. Rush then connected with Jordan Best on the conversion pass to give Union an 8-2 lead four minutes into the second quarter.
The Royals (1-0 conference, 1-2 overall) quickly answered as they marched 38 yards in eight plays, with Anthony Della Valle polishing off the drive by scoring from a yard out. Tappe’s kick gave Vincentian a 9-8 lead with 4:34 remaining before the half.
“They’re bigger up front than we are, that’s what made it more successful,” Robinson said of the Royals' rushing attack. “They wear down on you. You can carry a refrigerator up and down the steps only so many times before you’re going to get tired.”
After forcing the Scotties to punt on their next possession, the Royals put together another scoring drive late in the first half. Michael Falgione scored from 2 yards out on a pitch from Tappe to cap the eight-play, 45-yard drive. Tappe’s conversion run failed, but the Royals held a 15-8 lead at the break.
Union went into its bag of tricks early in the third quarter.
Facing a third-and-11 from their own 35-yard line, Best took the direct snap and raced 65 yards for a touchdown. Garrison Bell’s PAT kick was blocked by Anthony Tommarello, leaving the Scotties trailing, 15-14.
“It’s a play by design, but other than that Jordan gets all of the credit,” Robinson said. “He’s a football player. He’s one of the best around. He surprises me every week.”
Tommarello became the third different Royals back to find the end zone, as he scored on a 3-yard run less than a minute into the fourth quarter. His conversion run failed, but Vincentian held a 21-14 lead.
The Scotties responded by going on seven-play, 45-yard drive to draw to within a point. Rush hit Cornell Charles for a 5-yard TD pass with eight minutes to go in the game to cut the deficit to 21-20.
Union lined up for the two-point conversion, but Vincentian was flagged for being offside, moving the ball inside the 2-yard line.
Best looked for Bell on the conversion, but the pass was low leaving the Scotties trailing by one.
“We had different personnel in there because of injuries, and it limits what you can do,” Robinson said of the two-point conversion. “It wasn’t a good call on my part, I’ll put it that way.”
Vincentian added to its lead when Adams hauled in a 5-yard scoring strike from Tappe less than three minutes later. Tappe added the kick to give the Royals a 28-20 lead.
Union’s final two possession of the game ended with a first-down fumble and a sack by Adams on fourth-and-6 from the Union 44 with 1:41 remaining in the contest sealed the victory.
“It’s awesome, the boys are excited,” Storino said of his team’s first WPIAL victory. “They worked their butts off. We were very impressed with Union’s toughness. We came out on top tonight. If you play it again, you never know.”
Union will try to bounce back Friday when it travels to South Side Beaver.
“We’ve got to stay focused and keep our heads up,” Robinson said. “We have a lot of kids in there that are getting their first taste of battle, so to speak. We want to keep getting better. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
UNION VINCENTIAN
8 First downs 15
149 Yards Rushing 286
50 Yards Lost 9
99 Net Rushing 277
20 Passes Attempted 13
15 Passes Completed 6
0 Passes Intercepted 0
154 Yards Passing 51
253 Total Yards 328
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
2-26 Punts-Average 2-32.5
13-117 Penalties-Yards 9-85
UNION 0 8 6 6 — 20
VINCENTIAN 2 13 0 13 — 28
Scoring plays
VINCENTIAN — Paul Adams, safety, tackled Anthony Rush in end zone.
UNION — Anthony Bertolino, 8-yard pass from Rush (Jordan Best pass from Rush).
VINCENTIAN — Anthony Della Valle, 1-yard run (Michael Tappe kick).
VINCENTIAN — Michael Falgione, 2-yard run (run failed).
UNION — Best, 65-yard run (kick blocked).
VINCENTIAN — Anthony Tommarello, 3-yard run (run failed).
UNION — Cornell Charles, 5-yard pass from Rush (pass failed).
VINCENTIAN — Adams, 5-yard pass from Tappe (Tappe kick).
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