Shenango holds on for win over Union
Shenango (27) vs. Union (22)
Written: Oct 15, 2011
By Joe Simon
New Castle News
The game plans for Union and Shenango High couldn’t have been much different last night.
Shenango wanted to utilize its superior size and strength on the offensive line by running the ball, while the Scotties aimed to employ their speed and athleticism in the passing game.
In the end, the ground and pound of the Wildcats won out, but not by much. Shenango held off a frantic Union comeback to win a Big Seven Conference clash, 27-22.
The Wildcats didn’t pass the ball once (except for a pair of two-point conversions), yet they rushed for 380 yards and four touchdowns on 53 carries. Joe Seaburn did most of the damage, with 216 yards and two TDs on 23 carries. Shenango’s most important run went for only five yards, but it came on a third-and-3 play with less than a minute to play in the fourth quarter, and the first down allowed the Wildcats (2-3 conference, 3-4 overall) to run out the clock.
“We have to play to our strengths, and of course Union has to play to theirs,” Shenango coach Ryan Mayo said. “We have some size and a little bit of strength up front, and they’ve got athletes, so we did what we thought was best for our kids to win.”
Union (1-4, 2-5) opened the scoring with a 20-yard pass from Joe Salmen to Drew Robinson. The touchdown came after Shenango fumbled on the Union 1. Quarterback Tynen Greer tried reaching the ball over the goal line on third-and-goal from the 1, but Union’s Kody Smith popped the ball out of Greer’s hands and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown. The score was called back because of a block in the back, but the Scotties stole the momentum.
Shenango struck back with a 1-yard touchdown run by Greer. The score was set up by a 43-yard scamper from Seaburn, who averaged 9.4 yards per carry.
“Joe is what I thought he would be this year,” Mayo said. “I thought we had a feature ball carrier in Joe, and he’s lived up to expectations. Game in, game out, he’s the guy who’s been productive for us. The other guys have been productive, too, but he’s definitely been our best playmaker.”
Seaburn scored on runs of 46 and 5 yards in the third quarter, and Shenango appeared to be pulling away, but the Wildcats failed to finish on a few long drives, and it opened the door for the Scotties. They trailed by two touchdowns with less than four minutes to play, but Salmen single handedly brought Union back.
He was exceptional in scrambling away from Shenango defenders, slipping through tackles and faking out players left and right. He led the Scotties in rushing (11 carries, 89 yards) and passing (14 of 24 for 180 yards and three TDs). He eluded several defenders on a third-and-10 play from the Shenango 11 and threw a strike to Clifford Clark, who did a great job of catching the ball and keeping his feet in bounds.
“This is by far Joey’s best game,” Union coach Stacy Robinson said. “I kind of rode him hard all this week, and to his credit he stood tall and delivered for us tonight. He kept a lot of plays alive and that’s what a quarterback has to do. And again, if you get the ball into these guys’ hands, they can make something happen with it.”
Shenango didn’t cling to its 19-15 lead with three minutes remaining. They scored just three plays later on another 1-yard run by Greer. Seaburn again set up the score, this time with a 42-yard jaunt to the Union 6.
Salmen came back firing. He led the Scotties to a score in just 39 seconds, throwing a near-perfect pass to Robinson, who cut past two defenders and into the end zone for a 49-yard TD, cutting the lead to 27-22 with 1:32 left. But the Scotties, who didn’t recover an onside kick, just couldn’t stop Shenango’s ground game as Dom Caldararo made the critical 5-yard run to seal the victory. While Seaburn and Co. did the running, it was the powerful offensive line that cleared the way.
“We planned on smashing it down their throats the whole game,” Seaburn said. “When I got the ball, (offensive lineman) Chris Argiro is pulling in front of me, and he did a great job. I had wide-open holes to run through. I give all the credit to the line.”
(E-mail: j_simon@ncnewsonline.com)
SHENANGO UNION
14 First downs 13
394 Yards Rushing 139
14 Yards Lost 31
380 Net Rushing 108
0 Passes Attempted 24
0 Passes Completed 14
0 Passes Intercepted 1
0 Yards Passing 180
380 Total Yards 288
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
1-39 Punts-Average 34.3
9-60 Penalties-Yards 5-35
SHENANGO 0 7 12 8 — 27
UNION 0 7 0 15 —22
Scoring plays
UNION — Drew Robinson, 20-yard pass from Joe Salmen (Salmen kick).
SHENANGO — Tynen Greer, 1-yard run (Ronald Davis kick).
SHENANGO — Joe Seaburn, 46-yard run (Kick failed).
SHENANGO — Seaburn, 5-yard run (Pass failed).
UNION — Clifford Clark, 11-yard pass from Salmen (Robinson run).
SHENANGO — Tynen Greer, 1-yard run (Seaburn pass from Greer).
UNION — Robinson, 49-yard pass from Salmen (Salmen kick).
|