10-22-2017, 03:20 AM
BARBOURVILLE, Ky. -- Union scored points on 10 of its final 11 drives to turn what was a 21-20 deficit midway through the second quarter into a 63-35 win over the University of Pikeville football team on Saturday night at Williamson Stadium.
It was only a 30-21 lead for the Bulldogs (3-4, 1-2 MSC) at halftime, but they went on to outscore the Bears (4-4, 2-2 MSC) 33-14 in the second half.
There were lots of yards piled up as Union tallied 722 yards of total offense, compared to 536 for UPIKE. The Bears were better on the ground 394-388, but Union did better through the air 334-142.
Union kept the ball for more than seven minutes than the Bears and had 67 fewer penalty yards. There was only one turnover in the game, a UPIKE fumble at the goal line.
Xondre Willis racked up a career-high 257 yards on the ground and Willie McCloud added 117 yards and a touchdown. Sani Warren went 16-of-30 passing for 133 yards and two scores with Jordan Owens leading the way with six catches, while Arites Clark had two touchdown grabs on his only two catches.
Tony White III also threw for a touchdown for UPIKE, connecting with Clark on his first career passing attempt. Defensively, the Bears got nine tackles from Taeron Brown and six each from Emmett Kersey, Nathan Pray and Tanner Fiser.
Union's Alex Bell threw for 334 yards and four touchdowns on 22-of-30 passing and Izayah Reitte ran for 184 yards and four touchdowns on 18 attempts. Tyler Toombs led the receivers with 127 yards on three catches.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
After trading 3-and-outs to start the game, UPIKE got things rolling offensively with a five-play, 53-yard drive. Warren was the energizer as he scrambled for 15 yards on a play in which he nearly hurdled a defender for six, but the run did set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from Warren to Whitmore (7-0).
Fast forward just 40 seconds and Union was on the board as well as Reitte took off for a 62-yard score to even things up with 9:10 left in the first quarter (7-7).
On UPIKE's next drive, they kept the ball for nearly five minutes, traveling 76 yards on nine plays, ending with a one-yard rush by Warren at the goal line (14-7).
Before the first quarter came to an end, Reitte added a second touchdown as he took a handoff up the middle six yards to even the score again (14-14).
With the Bear offense stalling to open the second quarter, Union took advantage with Bell throwing a 13-yard touchdown pass to Cody Johnson to take its first lead at 20-14 after the missed extra point with 11:03 on the clock.
UPIKE's next drive was a good one though as an onside kick attempt backfired, not traveling the required distance and setting the Bears up at the Union 38. Still, Warren found himself with a 4th and 10, but he converted it for a first down on a pass to Jordan Owens. Using the momentum from that pick up, Warren followed it up with a 20-yard touchdown strike to Clark to take a 21-10 lead.
While the Bears wouldn't score again in the half, Union ended the quarter with 10 straight points. The first three came on a 30-yard field goal by Derek Burgett and the final seven came on Bell' pass to Darian Patterson with just 13 seconds on the clock to make it 30-21 at halftime.
Make it six straight possessions with points for Union as they opened the second half with a familiar name as Reitte followed up a pass interference call with a short, six-yard rush for six. The touchdown widened the gap to 15 points with 10 minutes on the clock.
While Reitte was an expected source of points, UPIKE got its first touchdown since the 8:14 mark of the second quarter from an unexpected delivery. Tony White III, on his first career passing attempt, threw a perfect jump ball to Clark on the left side of the end zone from nine yards out (28-36).
Union went for it on 4th and 2 at the Bears' 41-yard line on the next drive and it paid off as Reitte took the pitch and went untouched to put the Bulldogs back up by 14 with 7:52 left in the third (28-42).
After forcing a UPIKE punt on its next drive, Union needed just one play for Bell to hook up with Toombs for 83 yards to make it a 49-28 Bulldog lead.
In the fourth quarter, Union outscored the Bears 14-7 as Samondre Johnson ran for a two yard score and Bell connected with Ashby on an eight-yard pass. UPIKE scored its lone touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard rush by McCloud that made the score 56-35 with 12:01 to play. Bell's pass to Ashby for six was the final points of the game at the 5:11 mark.
UP NEXT
UPIKE hosts third-ranked Reinhardt (Ga.) at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday for homecoming.
http://upikebears.com/news/2017/10/21/un...63-35.aspx
It was only a 30-21 lead for the Bulldogs (3-4, 1-2 MSC) at halftime, but they went on to outscore the Bears (4-4, 2-2 MSC) 33-14 in the second half.
There were lots of yards piled up as Union tallied 722 yards of total offense, compared to 536 for UPIKE. The Bears were better on the ground 394-388, but Union did better through the air 334-142.
Union kept the ball for more than seven minutes than the Bears and had 67 fewer penalty yards. There was only one turnover in the game, a UPIKE fumble at the goal line.
Xondre Willis racked up a career-high 257 yards on the ground and Willie McCloud added 117 yards and a touchdown. Sani Warren went 16-of-30 passing for 133 yards and two scores with Jordan Owens leading the way with six catches, while Arites Clark had two touchdown grabs on his only two catches.
Tony White III also threw for a touchdown for UPIKE, connecting with Clark on his first career passing attempt. Defensively, the Bears got nine tackles from Taeron Brown and six each from Emmett Kersey, Nathan Pray and Tanner Fiser.
Union's Alex Bell threw for 334 yards and four touchdowns on 22-of-30 passing and Izayah Reitte ran for 184 yards and four touchdowns on 18 attempts. Tyler Toombs led the receivers with 127 yards on three catches.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
After trading 3-and-outs to start the game, UPIKE got things rolling offensively with a five-play, 53-yard drive. Warren was the energizer as he scrambled for 15 yards on a play in which he nearly hurdled a defender for six, but the run did set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from Warren to Whitmore (7-0).
Fast forward just 40 seconds and Union was on the board as well as Reitte took off for a 62-yard score to even things up with 9:10 left in the first quarter (7-7).
On UPIKE's next drive, they kept the ball for nearly five minutes, traveling 76 yards on nine plays, ending with a one-yard rush by Warren at the goal line (14-7).
Before the first quarter came to an end, Reitte added a second touchdown as he took a handoff up the middle six yards to even the score again (14-14).
With the Bear offense stalling to open the second quarter, Union took advantage with Bell throwing a 13-yard touchdown pass to Cody Johnson to take its first lead at 20-14 after the missed extra point with 11:03 on the clock.
UPIKE's next drive was a good one though as an onside kick attempt backfired, not traveling the required distance and setting the Bears up at the Union 38. Still, Warren found himself with a 4th and 10, but he converted it for a first down on a pass to Jordan Owens. Using the momentum from that pick up, Warren followed it up with a 20-yard touchdown strike to Clark to take a 21-10 lead.
While the Bears wouldn't score again in the half, Union ended the quarter with 10 straight points. The first three came on a 30-yard field goal by Derek Burgett and the final seven came on Bell' pass to Darian Patterson with just 13 seconds on the clock to make it 30-21 at halftime.
Make it six straight possessions with points for Union as they opened the second half with a familiar name as Reitte followed up a pass interference call with a short, six-yard rush for six. The touchdown widened the gap to 15 points with 10 minutes on the clock.
While Reitte was an expected source of points, UPIKE got its first touchdown since the 8:14 mark of the second quarter from an unexpected delivery. Tony White III, on his first career passing attempt, threw a perfect jump ball to Clark on the left side of the end zone from nine yards out (28-36).
Union went for it on 4th and 2 at the Bears' 41-yard line on the next drive and it paid off as Reitte took the pitch and went untouched to put the Bulldogs back up by 14 with 7:52 left in the third (28-42).
After forcing a UPIKE punt on its next drive, Union needed just one play for Bell to hook up with Toombs for 83 yards to make it a 49-28 Bulldog lead.
In the fourth quarter, Union outscored the Bears 14-7 as Samondre Johnson ran for a two yard score and Bell connected with Ashby on an eight-yard pass. UPIKE scored its lone touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard rush by McCloud that made the score 56-35 with 12:01 to play. Bell's pass to Ashby for six was the final points of the game at the 5:11 mark.
UP NEXT
UPIKE hosts third-ranked Reinhardt (Ga.) at 1:30 p.m. ET on Saturday for homecoming.
http://upikebears.com/news/2017/10/21/un...63-35.aspx