RIMERSBURG (EYT/D9) — Under the lights, at home, and in primetime as part of the Kerle Tire Game of the Week, Union/A-C Valley rolled to a 37-19 victory over visiting Kane at Vidunas Stadium on Friday night.
(Above, Dawson Camper breaks into the open field for Union/A-C Valley against Brockway last week/photo by Stephanie Crissman)
The win puts coach Brad Dittman’s Falcon Knights at 3-2 overall, and 2-1 in league play. The Wolves, on the other hand, drop to 1-4 with the loss.
“It feels good to get another win,” Dittman said after the game. “We continued to get better tonight and build off last week.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
A big part of the victory was the Falcon Knights’ ground attack, which added up to 247 yards while the offense produced 325 yards in total.
Leading the way and taking home Hager Paving Player of the Game honors was junior running back Dawson Camper, who finished the night with 116 yards on the ground with two touchdowns. Senior Mikey Card also reached paydirt twice to go along with 67 yards rushing.
It was Card who got the party started for the Falcon Knights, running in from 10 yards out, which put them up, 7-0, with about five minutes to go in the first.
It didn’t take long for Kane to answer back as the Wolves’ offense needed just over a minute and a half to capitalize on a 56-yard TD pass to Rick Zampogna, who made a spectacular grab over a defender before scampering in to make things 7-6.
As the second quarter got underway, the Falcon Knights’ ground attack was relentless. Two rushing TDs within two minutes — a 36-yard carry by Card and a 32-yard tote by Camper — put Union/A-C Valley in front, 19-6, with a little over eight minutes to play in the first half.
The Wolves would get one back around the 2:30 mark of the second quarter as Sam West squeezed in the end zone with a 1-yard run to put deficit within reach, 19-12. However, in a pivotal moment, with time ticking down in the first half, the Falcon Knights’ ground attack struck again. This time by marching down the field and finishing the drive off with a 3-yard TD run by Camper.
At half, the score stood at 26-12 in Union/A-C Valley’s favor.
The score remained that way for the majority of the third quarter before Falcon Knights quarterback Brody Dittman broke free on a beautiful read option play. The touchdown scamper totaled 30 yards and put Union/A-C Valley up 32-12 with 1:43 left in the third quarter.
Kane got on the board one last time around the 10-minute mark of the third as quarterback Kyle Zook connected with Scott Szymanski from 26 yards out.
Later in the quarter, the Wolves were backed up in their own end before a fumbled snap led to a safety, extending the Falcon Knights’ lead to 34-19.
The Falcon Knights set the final score at 37-19 with a 34-yard field goal off the foot of Landon Chalmers.
Dittman finished 9-of-16 passing with 78 yards to go along with 36 yards rushing for Union/A-C Valley while Zook completed 11-of-19 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns for the Wolves.
The Falcon Knights’ defense held the Wolves to just 204 yards of total offense.
Union/A-C Valley will clash with rival Redbank Valley next week while Kane hosts Port Allegany.
“We still have a lot to continue to get better at though and we will work hard on those things this week going into a really tough environment against a really good Redbank team,” coach Dittman said.
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
