RIMERSBURG — Union/A-C Valley's defense may have been looking for the run, but on the first drive of the game, they couldn't stop it.

Cameron County marched 63 yards in 11 plays, taking over six minutes off the clock, and Dylan Reider's 20-yard run gave the Raiders an early 6-0 lead in a District 9 Class 1A quarterfinal football playoff game.

The drive proved to be the exception Friday night. The rule was soon revealed — the Falcon Knights stiffening against Cameron County's ground attack — and the hosts did not allow another scoring drive in a 31-6 victory at Vidunas Stadium.

The playoff win was te first postseason triumph since Union and A-C Valley merged football programs in 2016.

“Cameron County came out ready to play tonight, but the way our kids responded, I'm proud of them,” said Union/A-C Valley coach Brad Dittman.

The Falcon Knights will host Smethport, which eliminated Curwensville Friday, in a district semifinal at 7 p.m. next Friday.

The Raiders (5-5) rushed for 51 yards on that first drive, but managed just 74 yards on 26 carries the rest of the game.

“They took it to us early,” said Union/A-C Valley linebacker Carter Terwint, “but we bounced back. We knew we just had to worry about their running game.”

The Falcon Knights (8-2) turned to their special teams for their first big play of the night.

The Raiders were forced to punt from deep in their own end on their second possession, but Anthony Putt never got his foot to the ball. Several Falcon Knights rushed in and Dawson Camper tackled the punter at Cameron's 12-yard line.

Three plays later, Ryan Cooper turned a wide receiver screen pass from Bailey Crissman into a 14-yard touchdown.

The extra point attempt was no good, but the Falcon Knights had gained valuable momentum.

Early in the second period, the Raiders muffed a punt and Zac Cooper recovered for Union/A-C Valley at the Raiders' 3-yard line.

Andrew Verostek scored on a 5-yard run on 3rd-and-goal.

Mikey Card, who had been held to six yards on his first seven carries, exploded for a 28-yard scoring run with 1:10 left in the first half.

Trailing 18-6 took the Raiders out of their comfort zone. They attempted to get points on the board before halftime, but Maddox Baughman was intercepted by Skyler Roxbury near midfield.

The turnover led to Crissman's 20-yard scoring toss to Camper for a 24-6 lead with just 21 seconds left in the second quarter.

Union/A-C Valley had taken complete control of the game by scoring touchdowns 49 seconds apart.

“We wanted to remain aggressive there at the end of the half,” said Dittman. “It was a big momentum swing for us.”

“Maddox is just a sophomore and we run the ball 70 percent of the time,” said Raiders' coach Ryan Neyman. “When we're forced to air it out, we're just not there yet.”

Sophomore quarterback Brody Dittman capped the scoring with a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

The Falcon Knights' rushing attack, which was stuffed early on, produced 137 yards on 36 carries.

Cameron Co. 6 0 0 0 — 6

Union/ACV 6 18 0 7 — 31

First Quarter

CC — Dylan Reider 20 run (pass failed), 5:37 U/ACV — Ryan Cooper 14 pass from Bailey Crissman (kick failed), 1:52

Second Quarter

U/ACV — Andrew Verostek 5 run (pass failed), 11:05 U/ACV — Mikey Card 28 run (pass failed), 1:10 U/ACV — Dawson Camper 20 pass from Crissman (run failed), :21

Fourth Quarter

U/ACV — Brody Dittman 1 run (Landon Chalmers kick), 11:48

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Cameron County, Dylan Reider 16-81, Devin Fowler 8-29, Jameson Britton 7-13, Anthony Putt 1-(-3), Maddox Baughman 2-2, Dylan Baney 1-3. Union/A-C Valley, Mikey Card 16-49, Bailey Crissman 5-22, Dawson Camper 7-35, Andrew Verostek 4-13, Brody Dittman 3-18, Caden Rainey 1-0.

Passing: Cameron County, Maddox Baughman 1-15-7-2. Union/A-C Valley, Bailey Crissman 8-19-151-1, Ryan Cooper 0-2-0-0, Brody Dittman 2-3-34-0.

Receiving: Cameron County, Dylan Reider 1-7. Union/A-C Valley, Ryan Cooper 3-59, Skyler Roxbury 2-19, Caden Rainey 3-62, Dawson Camper 1-20, Zac Cooper 1-25.