RIMERSBURG — The Union-A-C Valley high school football team may have entered the season with players from two different schools, but they solidified themselves as one team with a 54-14 victory over conference opponent Keystone Friday night at Union High School.

“This was a monkey off the back,” U-ACV coach David Louder said.

He said after neither Union nor A-C Valley won a home game last season, this victory is a great way to get their season going and to prove the team's unity.

U-ACV running back Lane Chalmers, who finished the night with two rushing touchdowns and 88 yards on 19 carries, said the victory may taste a tad sweeter to the A-C Valley players, who suffered three straight winless seasons. The last game A-C Valley won was Oct. 12, 2012, a 21-8 win over Keystone.

Chalmers said the A-C Valley players will need to get used to winning alongside their new Union teammates.

“We're finally bringing it together and everyone has to get that momentum in their head to win,” Chalmers said.

U-ACV (1-1) attacked in almost every facet of the game. In addition to Chalmers, running backs Jonathan Powell and Greg Duncan and quarterback Lucas Bowser also ran for touchdowns.

Bowser also finished the night with two touchdown passes, both to receiver Gavin Hawk.

Although the final score showed a large margin, the game seemed within Keystone's reach through the first half.

Louder said he was worried when his secondary began giving up big pass plays.

Keystone (0-2, 0-1) scored in the second quarter on a 32-yard pass by quarterback Nate Wingard to receiver Corey Rapp to cut the U-ACV lead to 21-8 at the half.

U-ACV scored early in the third quarter, but the Panthers responded 38 seconds later with a 60-yard TD pass from Wingard to receiver Tanner Wilson.

Wingard completed 10-of-18 passes for 199 yards with one interception.

Keystone coach Dan Reed said their passing game looked competitive, but they struggled to surprise the Falcon Knights in their running game.

“I thought we did some real good things in our passing game, but when you can't run the football, you have to resort to passing,” he said. “We have to get better at our consistency at running the football.”

Reed said his team eventually wore down under the weight of the physical U-ACV team. He said U-ACV was physical on both sides of the ball.

“We've got an extremely young ballclub, and they're just physically outmatched right now,” Reed said.

U-ACV scored four touchdowns in the fourth quarter, a mixture of their starters putting the game away and their backups getting touches.

Louder said he could see his team's mechanics and communication falling into place. Louder said hearing the whole team communicating on the field as a unit showed him that the Falcon Knights were ready to win.

“I think the kids are just really buying in,” Louder said. “Communication is the key in every victory.”

Chalmers said he could tell the difference between Friday's game and last week.

“Yes, communication was an issue (last week), and we improved a lot,” Chalmers said. “That's all we did this whole week, that and repetition.”

Chalmers said he wants the team to continue communicating the same way they did against Keystone and carry it through the season. He said the Falcon Knights are behind in that aspect of the game compared to other teams, and improving it may help them find success this season.

“Other teams have been playing together and winning together,” Chalmers said. “A-C Valley and Union are finally coming together and winning.”