Knights, Falcons battle injuries and each other
FOXBURG — Tom Kidder came into the season with some higher expectations for his Union football team.
Losing was getting old, and getting old fast. With some experienced players and others brimming with potential, Kidder and his team believed four wins and a possible playoff berth were reasonable expectations.
Five weeks into the season, those dreams are all but gone. The Golden Knights are 0-5, banged up and desperate for one win, let alone four.
This week, they travel to Foxburg to play A-C Valley, another desperate, winless team Friday.
Kickoff is 7 p.m.
"This year, we went into the season with high hopes, and I believe they were within reason," Kidder said. "We got a couple kids hurt and that has taken its toll. We have young kids playing and it shows."
One of those young kids, Zach Traister, won't be playing any time soon. The sophomore, who leads the team in rushing with 150 yards on 21 carries, is ineligible.
That puts more of the onus on another young player, sophomore quarterback Matt Gagliano, who has been dropping back to pass regularly this season.
He has completed 27-of-73 passes for 388 yards and two touchdowns.
"Matt is learning each week," Kidder said.
Senior Drew Logue is the only healthy starter on Union's offensive line. The rest of the line is being manned by sophomores and inexperienced upperclassmen.
The injuries have forced the Golden Knights to cancel their junior varsity game this week.
Injuries have caught up to A-CValley as well.
Senior quarterback Brad Rembold missed the first three games of the season with appedicitis. He returned in Week 4, passing for 116 yards and adding a two-point conversion run in a 20-8 loss to West Shamokin, the Falcons' closest game to date.
But in last week's loss to Apollo-Ridge, Rembold saw his season come to an end after breaking his leg.
Junior Luke Walker, who filled in at quarterback the first three games, will be asked to step under center against the Knights.
Walker has completed 13-of 39-passes for 130 yards this season.
One player not injured is senior running back Mike Himes, who has rushed for 239 yards and two scores on 41 carries this season.
But he will be running behind an offensive line full of backups.
"We've used five different players at center this year," said A-CValley coach Gary Pinkerton. "I've known Tom (Kidder) a lot of years and he always has a well-coached team. It should be a good game between two evenly matched teams."
Union-New Castle at Mars• Last Year's Game: Mars 61, Union 14• Current Record: Union (1-4, 1-4); Mars (4-1, 4-0)• Coaches: Union: Stacy Robinson, 11th season; Mars: Scott Heinauer, 16th season• Game Notes: The Planets defeated Cornell last week 45-22 while Union picked up its first win of the season, a 36-17 victory over Shenango. ... Mars fullback Bill Bair has rushed for 1,196 yards, an average of 239.2 per game. ... The Planets are currently riding a nine-game conference winning streak, dating back to last season. ... Since moving to the Tri-County North Conference in 2004, Mars is 3-0 against the Scotties, outscoring them 132-41 in the process. ... Union received two rushing touchdowns last week from senior Linnell Robinson, who also tallied a scoring reception. ... Also in last week's win, senior Jordon Rooney ran for one touchdown and returned an interception 100 yards for another score.Oil City at Slippery Rock• Last Year's Game: Slippery Rock 17, Oil City 12• Current Record: Slippery Rock (2-3, 1-0); Oil City (0-5, 0-2)• Coaches: Slippery Rock: Clyde Conti; Oil City: Bill Heber• Game Notes: Oil City has been outscored 194-35. ... The Oilers have had five different players throw at least five passes. ... Converted tight end Ben Koyak, a freshman, leads the team with 75 passing yards. ... Chris Fox leads Oil City's rushing attack with 234 yards. ... The Oilers scored 15 points in the fourth quarter against Franklin last week, but watched their comeback fall short 27-21. ... Slippery Rock trailed General McLane 35-21 in the fourth quarter before falling 56-21. ... Jonathan Powell threw for 195 yards and a touchdown, and his favorite target, senior Zack Ejzak, caught four passes for 116 yards.Freeport at West Shamokin• Last Year's Game: Freeport 52, West Shamokin 12• Current Record: Freeport (2-3, 2-3); West Shamokin (2-3, 1-3)• Coaches: Freeport: Bill Dillen, fourth season; West Shamokin: Shawn Liotta• Game Notes: The Wolves are coming off a 20-0 blanking to Deer Lakes, totaling just 111 yards in the process. ... Starting quarterback Dylan Henderson left the game with an ankle injury and Dave Farringer and Brad Lutz filled in. The trio combined for 47 yards and three interceptions. ... The Yellowjackets upset previously unbeaten Burrell 21-14 as Andrew Vidra rushed for 105 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. Quarterback Matt Lucas connected with Tyler Collins for the team's other score. ... Friday's game will mark the first of three consecutive roads games for Freeport.Clarion at Karns City• Last Year's Game: Karns City 15, Clarion 12• Current Record: Clarion (2-3, 2-2); Karns City (5-0, 3-0)• Coaches: Clarion: Larry Wiser, 20th season; Karns City: Ed Conto, eighth season• Game Notes: The Bobcats snapped a three-game losing streak with a 49-12 victory over Union last Friday. The team jumped out to a 42-0 halftime lead. ... Backup quarterback Kyle Zacour completed three-of-five passes for 56 yards, but all three went for touchdowns. ... James Seidle ran for 113 yards on five carries, including an 80-yard scoring run. Jon Kemmer and Jake Fleeger scored two touchdowns apiece. ... Karns City dispatched Redbank Valley 23-0, led by a ground game that rolled up 327 yards. Markus LaVan, who rushed for 118 yards and one score and Brett Green's 117 yards led the way. Anthony Stimac and Chris Price each threw a touchdown pass.Moniteau at Western Beaver• Last Year's Game: This is first meeting.• Current Record:Moniteau 4-1, Western Beaver 5-0• Coaches:Moniteau, Jeff Campbell, first season; Western Beaver:Matt Gray, sixth year• Game Notes: Game time is 12:30 p.m. Saturday and fills an open date on the Warriors' schedule. "I didn't care what size school or won-loss record, I wanted to play somebody,"Campbell said. "The fact we're playing a good team helps because with our schedule coming up; we didn't want to play a losing team." ... Moniteau has five players with at least 100 yards receiving and a touchdown catch: John McFadden, Josh Loos, Mitch Czech, Dakota Campbell and Clay Casper. ... Western Beaver, a Class AWPIALprogram, has allowed only 32 points in five games and owns shutout wins over Bentworth and Avonworth. ... Running back Shane Waida is the team's lone senior starter on offense and has rushed for 465 yards and nine touchdowns. ... Last year marked the first time in five seasons Western Beaver missed the WPIALplayoffs. ... QBTyler Armagost (813 yards passing, 12 TDs) and sophomore RBJames Shope (606 yards, 9 TDs) lead the Warriors attack.Fairview at Grove City• Last Year's Games: Fairview 26, Grove City 13 (regular season); Fairview 32, Grove City 7 (playoffs)• Current Record: Fairview (4-1), Grove City (4-1)• Coaches: Fairview: Jerry Lightner; Grove City: Jeff Bell• Game Notes: Fairview has outscored its opponents 181-31. ... The Tigers are led by running back Tyler Sargent, who has gained 760 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. ... Fairview quarterback Gary Corbin is asked to throw the football a lot, but when he is, he has been effective. He's completing 15-of-25 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns. ... Grove City has given up just six points in its last two games, but is struggling to score touchdowns. The Eagles have rolled up nearly 600 yards on offense the last two weeks, but have scored just 26 points. ... Chris Clark has rushed for 292 yards in the last two games.Riverside at Summit Academy• Last Year's Game: Riverside 27, Summit Academy 8• Current Record: Riverside (4-1, 4-1); Summit Academy (3-2, 3-1)• Coaches: Riverside: Jesse Rosenberger, third season; Summit Academy: Steve Sherer, seventh season• Game Notes: Jake Wickline rushed for 134 yards and scored four touchdowns to power the Panthers to a 61-0 rout of Neshannock last week. Wickline has run for 14 touchdowns this season. ... The Riverside defense allowed one first down and 14 total yards of offense last week. ... Riverside's lone loss was to Mars 21-0, but have shut out the rest of the their opponents and outscored them by a combined 149-0 margin. ... Summit Academy lost 31-28 to Laurel on a 25-yard field goal with eight seconds left. ... La Ron Green passed for 184 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 61 yards and two scores.
