NEW CASTLE— Trailing Freeport 17-0 through three quarters, Union-New Castle staged a furious comeback that fell just short Friday night.

Replacement quarterback Markus Allen threw two touchdowns in the last three minutes, and a successful onside kick with 1:27 remaining put the Scotties in position to win.

But an interception by Freeport's Tyler Collins on the next play clinched a 17-12 football win for the Yellowjackets.

"Tyler played that last pass perfectly," said Freeport coach Bill Dillen. "Their quarterback was throwing bullets. We almost had the sack on his second touchdown pass, but he threw a strong pass off his back foot to beat us on the play."

The first half was all Freeport as it built a 14-0 lead. Kirk Naedele scored on runs of 46 and 20 yards and finished the night with 180 yards on 23 carries, but only 56 of those yards came in the second half.

Twice in the third quarter Freeport drove deep into Union territory, but the Yellowjackets were unable to score and the momentum shifted.

"You have to give them credit," Dillen said. "They made effective adjustments at halftime."

With a first and 10 at the Union 11, Freeport ran three times and lost four yards before Anthony Vidra's 32-yard field goal attempt went wide.

On their next possession, the Yellowjackets faced a first and 10 at the Union 12. After two short runs, a penalty and an incomplete pass, they had to settle for a 29-yard Vidra field goal, making the score 17-0.

"The second half was gut check time," Union head coach Stacy Robinson said. "We were able to neutralize them at times."

Union opened the fourth quarter at its own 19. Quarterback Matt Pelto ran three times for 22 yards and completed three passes for 46 yards. Facing a fourth and 12 at the Freeport 21, Pelto dropped back to pass before four defenders converged and sacked him at the 40-yard line.

Pelto was down on the turf for a few minutes with an injury. He walked off under his own power, but did not return.

Allen had been largely ineffectual running the ball, but he gave the Scotties a boost when he replaced Pelto.

Allen took his first snap with six minutes left in the game. Three minutes later, he threw a 46-yard bullet into heavy coverage and the ball hit Jason Burkes in the numbers for the Scotties' first score.

On Freeport's next possession, the handoff never got to the running back and Union recovered at the 33. Allen completed a pair of short passes to set up a fourth and 10 at the 15 before he hit Linnell Robinson in stride over the middle for a 15-yard score to make it 17-12.

An earlier onside kick had failed, but not this time. Nine players ran right, anticipating a kick to the right. But the kick went left, where a single Union player faced little opposition in recovering it.

The Scotties had the ball at midfield with 1:30 remaining, but Allen's long pass down the middle of the field was intercepted by Collins and Freeport ran out the clock.

"We finally got untracked in the fourth quarter," said coach Robinson, "but we simply ran out of time."