Union Local Storms To 4-0 With Harrison Central Rout
Jets Rack Up Nearly 500 Yards Of Offense Against Visiting Huskies
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MORRISTOWN - Union Local was clicking on all cylinders Friday night as it stormed past visiting Harrison Central, 49-7, at Jets Field on Military Night.
The Jets (4-0) scored on six of the seven first-half possessions and accumulated 452 yards of total offense behind a balanced attack.
"I was proud of everyone's effort tonight," Union Local head coach Bernie Thompson said. "The word of the week was 'important' and we wanted this night to be important. We wore National Guard camouflage uniforms. We honored our veterans and military personnel on 911. We wanted them to be a part of this."
Evan Poziviak has settled in as Union Local's signal caller. The sophomore was 6-for-6 for 162 yards and a pair of touchdowns, those going 75 yards to Eli Rogers and 30 yards to Karson Grigatis. His backup, Bo Thompson, found Ayden Taylor for a 55-yard scoring strike to wrap up the scoring.
"Evan made some great throws tonight," Thompson said. "He's growing up right before our eyes and our offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage".
The Jets were equally efficient on the ground, as well. They carried the ball 25 times for 235 yards and four touchdowns as senior Brody Perzanowski continued his march towards Quincy Wilson's all-time OVAC record of 6,161 yards with 11 totes for 176 stripes and a trio of six-pointers. According to sources, the Jets ace now has 5,339. His three touchdowns raise his total to 55. Wilson had 90.
"He's a stud," Thompson said of Perzanowski. "He's a special talent."
Perzanowski got the scoring started with an 8-yard run. Jeff Bolon was true on the first of his seven PATs for a 7-0 reading.
It looked as though the Huskies were going to draw even when quarterback Kingston Smith connected with Lance Smith over the middle on a slant. Lance Smith broke free and raced down the middle of the field before being tracked down by Grigatis who never gave up pursuit. On second-and-goal from the 9, quarterback Kingston Smith got to the Jets' 1 before being tackled, but he lost his helmet in the process and had to sit out a play. An illegal shift against Harrison Central moved the ball back to the 6 and Lance Smith was bottled up on third-and-goal. A fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
Following an exchange of punts, Union Local marched 61 yards on nine plays as Perzanowski circled his right end from 7 yards out. Bolon made it 14-0.
On the ensuing kickoff the Huskies' Colson Crothers fielded the ball at his own 2 before finding a seam on the right side and sprinting 98 yards for an apparent touchdown. However, a blindside block against the visitors nullified that sterling return.
"It should have been 14-14," Harrison Central head coach Anthony Hayes said. "We were in position a couple of times to make tackles early on, but we didn't make the tackles. A false start on the 1 on a wide receiver. Who knows? It's a lot different at 14-all than 28-0."
It didn't take Union Local to find the end zone again. In fact, the next two Jets touchdowns - on two plays - both took less than 14 ticks off the clock. Poziviak found Grigatis on a post pattern and threaded the needle between two Harrison Central defenders. After another three-and-out by the Huskies, Poziviak lofted the ball down the middle of the field when the speedy Rogers ran underneath it and went the distance as the margin ballooned to 28-0.
Harrison Central couldn't get anything going offensively and punted for the fourth time.
"Turnovers drive you nuts as a coach, but we didn't have any tonight," Hayes added. "However, the mental mistakes will also drive you crazy. We found some things out about our guys tonight that we can, hopefully, work on this week."
Union Local's ground game came alive on its next series of downs as Perzanowski and fellow senior, Kolten Snyder, combined for 55 yards before Ethan Meyer plunged in from the 2 as the lead increased to 35-0.
Following another defensive stop by the Jets, the offense started in the shadow of its goal posts at the 7. Perzanowski took a handoff up the middle, cut to his right before sprinting down the near sidelines while shedding would-be tacklers on his way to the house as the margin grew to 42-0 at the half.
The entire second half was played with a running clock as mandated by the Ohio High School Athletic Association's 30-point mercy rule.
Harrison Central avoided being shutout when freshman Nelson Lan broke free for a 33-yard scoring burst on fourth-and-1.
While the Jets offense was running on high octane, the defense was suffocating as it held the Huskies to 168 total yards. Lan finished with 41 yards and the aforementioned TD on six carries, while Kingston Smith completed 6-of-19 passes for 105, with Lance Smith landing three for 90.
Union Local has a short week ahead as Wheeling Central visits on Thursday night. The Maroon Knights dropped their second straight outing, 14-12, to visiting Ridgewood Friday night on Wheeling University's Bishop Schmitt Field. The Huskies (1-3), meanwhile, look to re-group as undefeated Martins Ferry visits Wagner Field in Cadiz.