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Union/A-C Valley rallies past Keystone @UHSACV_Football @KeystoneFball @rsmithcomptech

Tagged under: District 9, Gameday Hub, News

| October 8, 2021


Knox – Union/ACV outscored Keystone 20-6 in the second half and rallied past the Panthers 26-24 Thursday night at Keystone High School.

“We dug ourselves a big hole tonight,” said Union/ACV head coach Brad Dittman. “We had five turnovers tonight which is hard to come back from. Our kids stepped up in that second half we challenged them. This game was pretty, but it’s Keystone and they always play us tough. We’ll gladly take it.”

Things certainly did not start out well for Falcon-Knights as Kyle Nellis took the opening kickoff back 75 yards for a touchdown to give Keystone a 6-0 lead 17 seconds into the game.

Nellis his second big plays of the first quarter as he intercepted Bailey Crissman and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown.

Things then went bad to worse for Union/ACV as a blocked punt led to quarterback Bret Wingard’s 1-yard run with 8:49 to play in the first half.

“They hit us with a couple of big plays on us,” said Dittman. “I felt in the second half we were able to control the line of scrimmage and shut them down. In the first half, we couldn’t get out of our own way.”

The Falcon-Knights were able to score before halftime as backup quarterback Trey Fleming threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Cooper with 41 seconds left in the first half. Crissman had to come out of the game for a play due to getting the wind knocked out of him.

“That was huge for us and it gave us momentum heading to halftime,” said Dittman. “We were too tight in the first half, which allowed us to play loose in the second half.”

Union/ACV would go on to score three-straight second-half touchdowns to open up a 26-18 lead.

“I feel was got complacent and stopped playing hard after taking an 18-point lead,” said Keystone head coach Ryan Smith. “We started giving up big plays, and we made too many mental mistakes. We have not done that all season long.”

Caden Rainey hauled in a screen pass from Crissman and raced 53 yards to the end zone that closed the gap to 18-14 after three quarters.

The Falcon-Knights then took their first lead of the game when Skyler Roxbury intercepted a Wingard and returned 25 yards for a touchdown.

“That pick-6 was a huge play for us,” Dittman said. “I’m proud of these kids and they deserve this tonight.”

Union/ACV then extended their lead on Mikey Card’s 3-yard run after a punting mishap with Keystone resulted in a 7-yard loss.

Card rushed for a game-high 91 yards on 14 carries. Crissman completed 10-of-22 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown.

“In the second half we needed to be more consistent in what we were offensive, ” said Dittman.

Keystone, however, fought back and put themselves in a position to force overtime when Tyler Albright hauled in an 80-yard pass from Wingard only 44 seconds after Card’s touchdown.

On the ensuing two-point conversion Wingard rolled out but was sacked on the play.

Aside from the long pass, the Panthers only gained 98 yards of offense.

“We’re going to look at the tape to figure out our offense,” said Smith. “They controlled the line scrimmage and they moved us tonight.”

The Panthers appeared to have an interception by Albright on the Union/ACV’s next possession. However, a pass interference penalty negated the interception.

Keystone would get the ball back at their 40-yard line with 28 seconds to play, but could not move the ball.

“I told the team that there are two ways to respond from this; either we’re going to lay down or come back stronger,” Smith concluded.

Union/ACV improves to 5-1 on the season, they will attempt to keep rolling as they travel to Cameron County next weekend.

Keystone will try and rebound when they travel to Smethport next week.

Game Highlights:

 

Union/ACV 26 Keystone 24

Score by Quarters

Union/ACV – 0 6 8 12 – 26
Keystone – 12 6 0 6 – 24

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

K – Kyle Nellis 75 yd kickoff return, (kick failed), 11:43

K – Nellis 47 yd interception return, (run failed), 2:23

Second Quarter

K – Bret Wingard 1 yd run, (kick failed), 8:49

U – Ryan Cooper 11 yd pass from Trey Fleming, (rush failed), 0:41

Third Quarter

U – Caden Rainey 53 yd pass from Bailey Crissman, (Cooper from Crissman), 6:19

Fourth Quarter

U – Skyler Roxbury 25 yd interception, (pass failed), 8:03

U – Mikey Card 3 yd run, (rush failed), 5:24

K – Tyler Albright 80 yd pass from Wingard, (rush failed), 4:40

Individual Stats

Rushing: Union/ACV – Card 14-91, Crissman 5-14, Rainey 7-5, Dawson Camper 6-(-6). Totals: 32-104. Keystone – Wingard 6-17, Nellis 14-18, Albright 1-4, Team 2-(-7). Totals: 23-32.

Receiving: Union/ACV – Cooper 2-21, Roxbury 4-69, Card 2-13, Rainey 2-52, Camper 1-12. Keystone – Tyler Albright 4-119, Zander Mchenry 1-16, Ian Keth 1-7, Nellis 1-4.

Passing: Union/ACV – Crissman 10-for-22, 156 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, Fleming 1-for-1, 11 yards, 1 touchdown. Keystone – Wingard 7-for-26, 146 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception.

Interceptions: Union/ACV – Roxbury. Keystone – Nellis.

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