DuBOIS – Lane Cicciarelli glanced over toward the now-empty bleachers at Mansell Stadium where a very vocal group of Union football supporters were Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights lost their District 9 Class A semifinal game 35-22 to Brockway, but Cicciarelli was happy people came to see them play.

Eighth-seeded Union (6-6) won its final three regular season games and used the momentum to win its first-ever district playoff game. Penalties, turnovers and a strong pass rush from the fifth-seeded Rovers (7-5) halted the Golden Knights' magic.

Cicciarelli, who passed for 249 yards and three touchdowns, was proud of the effort.

“It made our community rise up and come out and support us,” Cicciarelli said. “That means a lot to me.”

Two early turnovers set the tone.

After going three-and-out on its first drive, Brockway punched the ball free from Dugan Gallagher and recovered it on Union's 39-yard line. The Rovers converted the fumble into a 1-yard touchdown run by Anthony Benson with 3 minutes, 26 seconds left in the first quarter.

On the Golden Knights' next series, Cole Morris was stripped after catching a swing pass. Brockway recovered and scored on the next play when Anthony Isabella ran into the endzone from 13 yards out.

Isabella finished with a game-high 141 rushing yards on 18 carries.

“We've been looking for that all year long,” Brockway coach Frank Zocco said. “Our turnover ratio has been bad this year. We were looking for something like that where we could create turnovers. We hit them, punched the ball out and it helped us.”

Trust between Cicciarelli and his wide receivers brought Union back in the second quarter. Cicciarelli lobbed a long pass to the well-covered Morris, who timed his jump perfectly and scored on a 41-yard strike.

After Isabella scored on a 38-yard run, Cicciarelli responded with another long pass. This time, Chet Carmichael got behind the defense and Cicciarelli threw the ball a little behind him. Carmichael slowed down, caught the ball at the Brockway 20 and kept his feet after stumbling to score on a 56-yard catch with 28 seconds left in the half.

The Rovers led 21-16 at halftime. Carmichael and Morris finished with 117 and 111 yards receiving, respectively.

“I just trust them with everything,” Cicciarelli said. “I threw it up and they went up and got it.”

Brockway put the game away in the fourth quarter with a gritty drive. The Rovers faced two fourth downs on an 86-yard touchdown march that put them ahead 28-16 with 5:56 remaining.

On fourth-and-two from the Union 46, Benson converted with a four-yard run. Later in the drive, Benson converted a fourth-and-one despite being hit in the backfield by Union's Landon Forrest. Brockway capped the drive when Isabella caught a screen pass from Hunter Miller and took it 30 yards to the end zone.

“The two turnovers shook us a bit, but we fought back and had opportunities,” Golden Knights' coach Dave Louder said. “The Rocket screen at the end, we were ready for it, but we can't make the tackles today.”

On Union's next drive, the Golden Knights moved the ball to their 45-yard line. Brockway sacked Cicciarelli three times in a row, the last by defensive end Alex Verne, and forced an incompletion on fourth down.

Miller scored on a 10-yard run two plays later. Cicciarelli found Carmichael for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 28.5 seconds remaining to wrap up the scoring.

Louder encouraged his kids to reflect on this season.

“It was a rocky road. As a coach, you always tell the guys, don't look back and (have) short-term memory and look on,” Louder said. “We wanted to look back today. We wanted to look back at what we accomplished. A 2-5 team fighting back and getting this opportunity to be in the semifinals, we're proud of this team.”

Brockway 35, Union 22

Union 0 16 0 6 — 22

Brockway 14 7 0 14 — 35

U B

10 First Downs 16

27-49 Rushes-Yards 41-243

259 Passing Yards 38

19-24-0 Comp.-Att.-Int 7-9-0

308 Total Yards 281

4-2 Fumbles-Lost 1-0

8-80 Penalty Yards 5-30

First Quarter

B — Anthony Benson 1 run (Jarrett Esposito kick), 3:26

B — Anthony Isabella 13 run (Esposito kick), 1:30

Second Quarter

U — Cole Morris 41 pass from Lane Cicciarelli (Tyler Wiser pass from Cicciarelli), 3:33

B — Isabella 38 run (Esposito kick), :37

U — Chet Carmichael 56 pass from Cicciarelli (Morris pass from Dugan Gallagher), :13

Fourth Quarter

B — Isabella 30 pass from Hunter Miller (Esposito kick), 5:51

B — Miller 10 run (Esposito kick), 2:08

U — Carmichael 17 pass from Cicciarelli (pass failed), :28

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Union, Dugan Gallagher 14-48, Casey Confer 3-7, Cicciarelli 8-(-1), Chet Carmichael 2-(-5). Brockway, Isabella 17-141, Miller 8-38, Benson 13-33, Mike Martino 2-29, Team 1-2.

Passing: Union, Cicciarelli 19-24-259-0. Brockway, Miller 5-7-32-0, Isabella 2-2-6-0.

Receiving: Union, Carmichael 8-116, Morris 8-111, Gallagher 2-22, Tyler Wiser 2-22. Brockway, Isabella 2-39, Martino 2-1, Benson 3-(-2).