Union, Rochester ready to rekindle old rivalry
Written: Sep 11, 2008
  By JOE SAGER
ncsports@ncnewsonline.com
When Union High begins its new era tomorrow night at home, it will be like old times.
The Scotties will rekindle their football rivalry with Rochester when the two teams meet in WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference opener.
But it’s not like Union is heading into uncharted territory.
“It’s nice to be back to the Big Seven,” Union coach Stacy Robinson said. “I’ve always been proud of how our kids stood up to Rochester in the past.
“They’ve always been a great challenge. Hopefully, the kids respond and come out and give a quality effort so we can leave the field with some pride in ourselves.”
Robinson, a UHS product, will see a familiar face standing across the field, too. Rams’ head coach Gene Matsook is a 1981 Shenango High graduate. The two played against each other in high school.
“I think he was a junior when I was a senior,” Matsook said of Robinson. “He was a great athlete. He could run. I always tell our coaches he could run like a deer.
“There’s no doubt about it — it’s always good to come back to the county. There are a lot of good people there. We’re happy to be back playing Lawrence County teams.
“Stacy does a good job with his kids. He gets them ready to play,” he continued. “They come after you. They are typical Union kids — they are tough.
“Hey, they have some good skill and good size. We know what we have to face. Being from the area and knowing the teams and coaches, we have to make sure we’re pretty focused on what we need to do.”
The programs have not met since 2001. After that season, Union moved to Class AA to participate in the Tri-County North Conference. The Scotties were realigned returned to the Class A conference this year.
And, what a task to begin conference play. The Rams are No. 1 in the Post-Gazette’s WPIAL Class A rankings.
“In the last few years since we left the Big Seven, we haven’t faced a top-ranked team in any classification,” Robinson said. “It should be quite a challenge for us. It’s something we should be excited about.
“We haven’t played the way we are capable of playing yet. That’s a good thing because we still hope to put a good game together. We’ve only played in spurts so far. Hopefully, we can get it all together. Naturally, it’s a David vs. Goliath type of battle. We have to find us some smooth stones and see if we can slay Goliath.”
Rochester (2-0) has cruised through its first two games, beating Monessen and Riverview by a combined 51-3 margin.
“We’ve started off well, but we need to get better,” Matsook said. “We continue to work and get ourselves where we need to be. That’s what the exhibition season was for.”
While the Rams have been stingy on defense, the offense has been balanced. In last week’s 41-3 win over Riverview, Rochester finished with 169 yards rushing and 162 passing. Quarterback Brandon Gray was 7 for 7 passing for 149 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers. He also scored on a 6-yard run.
“It looks like Gene has opened it up a bit from when we did battle before,” Robinson said. “They always have tough kids and they take pride in their football down there.
“We are taking steps forward. Just when we think we’ve accomplished some things, we take a step or two back,” he continued. “Our running game has been clicking at times. We have to get our passing game on track. We like to throw the ball and we haven’t been clicking on all cylinders, so to speak. The passing game will help open up our running game.”
Even though the Rams enter as the favorites to claim victory, they aren’t overlooking the Scotties (1-1).
“We have to be a fundamentally sound football team. That’s what we stress each week,” Matsook said. “Union has big-play capability and we have to prepare for that.”
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