Union clinches playoff spot with romp
Union (36) vs. South Side Beaver (19)
Written: Oct 20, 2012
By Dan Irwin
New Castle News
Drew Robinson and Joe Salmen did their talking on the football field last night.
Good thing — because after they’d helped Union High clinch its first WPIAL Class A playoff berth since 2003 with a 36-19 Big Seven Conference win over South Side Beaver, the two Scotties seniors found it hard to channel their emotions into words.
“It’s just indescribable,” said Robinson, who had four touchdowns — two rushing, two through the air — to go with 121 yards on 11 carries. “We’ve been waiting for this for so long.”
Salmen, who connected on 8 of 15 passes for 142 yards and two TDs, was equally awed.
“It leaves you speechless,” he said. “When I used to come to the games and my first three years playing, I was either like the only fan here or, when we were playing, we had no fans.
“Now to finally be able to look up in the stands and see people cheering for you, it’s great.”
Perhaps senior wide receiver Wayne Seamans summarized it best.
“It just makes a better atmosphere at school and around the community,” he said. “Everybody comes out to watch; we got a big crowd. It’s great. We’re like movie stars in our school.”
Robinson scored not only on runs of 1 and 57 yards, but also on pass plays of 57 and 33 yards. Of his nine prior TDs this season, only one had come through the air.
“The wide receivers blocked very well downfield, and the line blocked excellent” Robinson said. “They came out ready to play. I told them, just get on somebody and let me make a cut — get me past the hole, then let me do the rest.”
Salmen also credited his line with giving him solid protection, and his receivers with providing most of the fireworks.
“A lot of times, whenever you see a quarterback have so many of this, so many of that, it’s actually only a five-yard pass,” he said. “But when you have athletes like this, that’s all you need to make a 50-yard touchdown. It’s really about me just managing the game — getting them the ball, and letting them make the play with it.”
That was the case with Robinson’s TDs. He wasn’t the primary receiver on either play, but Salmen eventually found him hovering around the line of scrimmage on the first score and sitting out into the flat on the second.
“Joe kept the plays alive,” head coach Stacy Robinson said. “That’s one of those things people don’t see. He kept the play alive and he was able to find the open receiver.”
But Salmen also can go deep, as he showed on a 34-yard bomb to Seamans in the third quarter. Seamans turned, leaned back, stretched out and made a leaping catch at the 1-yard line. He then ran the ball into the end zone on the next play.
“ It was a good throw by Joe,” Seamans said. “Again, the line gave great protection. It just allowed Joe to get me the ball, and I made the play.
“(On the next play), I kind of figured they were going to give it to me, but I wasn’t sure. It felt good to get in there.”
Defensively, Union (5-2 in the conference, 6-2 over) limited South Side (1-6, 2-6) to just 64 yards rushing through 3 1/2 quarters before the Rams broke touchdown runs of 48 and 56 yards by James Beaumont and Cameron McCoy, respectively, against the Scotties’ reserves.
Union still has one more bit of business before it can start preparing for the playoffs: its regular season finale next week at Neshannock (6-1, 7-1). The Scotties are guaranteed at least the fourth and final playoff berth in the section, but could finish in a three-way tie for second with a win and a Sto-Rox loss to Rochester.
“No comment,” Salmen said when reminded of next week’s task. “Everybody knows the hype of the game. We’re just going to leave it at that.”
(Email: d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com)
SOUTH SIDE UNION
10 First downs 16
206 Yards Rushing 238
16 Yards Lost 13
190 Net Rushing 225
16 Passes Attempted 16
5 Passes Completed 8
1Passes Intercepted 0
52 Yards Passing 142
242 Total Yards 367
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 2-2
4-31.8 Punts-Average 2-40
5-35 Penalties-Yards 11-80
SOUTH SIDE 7 0 0 12 — 19
UNION 7 15 14 0 — 36
Scoring plays
UNION — Drew Robinson, 1-yard run (Joe Salmen kick).
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — Nolan Lamont, 5-yard run (Jonathan Magusiak kick).
UNION — Robinson, 57-yard run (Salmen kick).
UNION — Robinson, 33-yard pass from Salmen (Robinson run).
UNION — Robinson, 15-yard pass from Salmen (Salmen kick).
UNION — Wayne Seamans, 1-yard run (Salmen kick).
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — James Beaumont, 48-yard run (run failed).
SOUTH SIDE BEAVER — Cameron McCoy, 56-yard run (run failed).
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