Moniteau rolls past Union, 48-12
CHERRY TWP — There was a movie a few years ago called "Gone in Sixty Seconds."
Moniteau needed less time than that to pull away from Union on Friday night.
It took 54 seconds in the third quarter for the Warriors' James Shope to score rushing touchdowns of 59, 23 and 7 yards, taking advantage of Union turnovers and turning a 28-12 game into a 48-12 romp.
"(Shope) is just a sophomore and he is going to be really good," said Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell. "He's good already and he is going to be really good."
Shope had 181 yards rushing on 10 carries.
Moniteau opened the game by scoring on its third play from scrimmage when Tyler Armagost threw a 25-yard strike to Dakota Campbell.
The Golden Knights tried to answer on the ensuing possession when they drove to the Moniteau 40-yard line.
However, Union was stopped when a Matt Gagliano pass was intercepted at the 19-yard line by the Warriors' Mitch Czech.
Moniteau scored again 11 plays later when Armagost ran a quarterback keeper for an 8-yard touchdown.
Moniteau added one more score before the end of the first quarter when Armagost floated a 25-yard pass to a wide-open Campbell, who jogged into the end zone.
Armagost connected on nine- of-22 passes for 210 yards and three scores.
With 17 seconds left in the first quarter, Gagliano fired a pass to Zach Traister who raced down the left sideline for an 83-yard score.
The Golden Knights mounted a drive on their first possession of the second quarter as they marched 80 yards to the Moniteau 8-yard line.
However, the drive stalled when a Gagliano pass fell incomplete on fourth down.
Gagliano was 16-of-43 passing for 267 yards and four interceptions.
Union was able to pull to within 16 points when Traister took the second-half kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown.
Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, it was one play later that Shope went on his scoring binge.
"We were gassed," said Union coach Tom Kidder. "You could see on the sidelines how many kids we have and how many kids they have. We shouldn't even be playing them."
"It is the fault of the KSAC that we even have to play this team, but I was very pleased with how we played."
The Golden Knights attempted 39 passes in the first half, connecting on 15 of them.
On the other hand, Union had only four rushing attempts in the first half for minus-11 yards.
