UNION 28, CLARION-LIMESTONE 21

Oct. 24, 2008

By Steve Smail

STRATTANVILLE – Matt Gagliano connected with Zach Traister from 22 yards out with just less than nine minutes to play in the game to help Union capture a 28-21 victory over Clarion-Limestone in the final regular season game for both teams on Friday evening at the C-L Sports Complex.

  The score was set up by a 58-yard punt by Traister which pinned the Lions at their own five. The Knights defense held forcing C-L to punt out of their own end zone, and the Knights took over at the C-L 22 following the punt. Prior to the big punt, Traister averaged just 16 1/2 yards on his previous four punts in the game.

“We knew Zach was capable of making that kind of punt as we worked with him all year,” said Union head coach Jeremy Lipps. “He struggled early, but gave us a big kick when we needed it, and it turned out to be our momentum grabbing moment.”

Union, which beat C-L for the first time since Sept. 20, 1985 – the Knight had lost 20 in a row to the Lions,  held a 20-0 halftime lead before C-L roared back with 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to take a 21-20 lead after three quarters.

“I'm proud of how hard the kids battled tonight, and it's a shame that the season has to end this way with a loss like this,” said C-L head coach Todd Smith.  “The kids showed a lot of heart coming back in the third quarter after falling behind though.”

Union held a 215-151 advantage on the ground while C-L held a 180-68 advantage through the air.

Colby Davis led the Knights with 110 yards on 19 carries and Zach Traister added 79 yards on five carries.

Zac Roller led C-L with 90 yards on 17 attempts while Dan Miller rushed 16 times for 61 yards.

Miller completed 8-of-21 passes for 180 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Roller caught two passes for 73 yards, Sean Kennedy two catches for 59 yards, and Zach Kemmer added two catches for 50 yards.

Gagliano completed 5-of-14 passes for 68 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Traister caught two passes for 31 yards to lead the way.

“We've had some rough times this year and lost some close ballgames,” said Lipps. “Our kids fought through all of it. We played a great first half, but C-L, with their great coaching staff, made some adjustments. They came back to take the lead on us, but our guys kept right in there and didn't give up and we were finally able to pull one out.”

Union took the 20-0 halftime lead thanks to a 1-yard Trent Switzer touchdown run, a 54-yard score by Davis and a Switzer fumble recovery in the end zone following a bad punt snap.

C-L came roaring back in the third quarter thanks to a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown by Mike White, a 70-yard Miller to Roller touchdown pass and a 10-yard Miller run.

Union 28, Clarion-Limestone 21

Score by Quarters

Union 6  14  0  8 - 28

C-L 0  0  21  0- 21

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

Union- Trent Switzer 1 yard run (PAT kick failed) 0:00

Second Quarter

Union- Colby Davis 54 yard run (2-pt run failed) 8:06

Union- Trent Switzer fumble recovery in end zone following bad punt snap. (Matt Gagliano pass to Zach Traister) :33

Third Quarter

C-L- Mike White 30 yard interception return (Kyle Cyphert kick) 10:50

C-L- Dan Miller 70 yard pass to Zac Roller (Cyphert kick) 6:43

C-L- Dan Miller 10 yard run (Cyphert kick) 1:16

Fourth Quarter

Union- Matt Gagliano 22 yard pass to Zach Traister (Gagliano pass to Switzer) 8:44

                                                       U                     CL

First Downs                                    9                      12

Rushes-yards                                  36-215             33-151

Passing yards                                 68                    18

Passing: Comp.-Att.-Int.                 5-14-1              8-21-2

Total yards                                     283                 331

Fumbles-lost                                   1-0                   1-0

Penalties                                         6-46                 3-21

Punting                                           6-157               4-112

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Union- Colby Davis 19-110, Zach Traister 5-79, Matt Gagliano 8-17, Trent Switzer 4-12, Team 1- -3. Clarion-Limestone- Zac Roller 17-90, Dan Miller 16-61.

Passing: Union- Matt Gagliano 5-for-14 68 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int. Clarion-Limestone- Dan Miller 8-for-21 180 yards, 1 TD, 2 Int.

Receiving: Union- Zach Traister 2-31, Taylor Smith 1-16, Colby Davis 1-17, Kurtis Shirey 1-4. Clarion-Limestone- Zac Roller 2-73, Sean Kennedy 2-59, Zac Kemmer 2-50.

Interceptions: Union- Taylor Smith 2, Clarion-Limestone- Mike White 1.