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73rd Annual UNICO Game: Miners pound the Pioneers

Tagged under: All-Stars, District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| June 2, 2024

Coming out of last year’s UNICO Game, the de-facto “Senior Bowl” for the Wyoming Valley Conference, the talk was unfortunately centered around the unsportsmanlike play and several player ejections.  This season, in the 73rd edition of the UNICO game, sportsmanship was on full display early and often.  Players from the Miners and Pioneers squads met near midfield prior to the game and had a group huddle led by coaches of both teams.

That moment was about as close as the game was going to be as the Miners used a trio of running backs to grind out yardage all evening, and game MVP RB Zack Fox (Nanticoke Area) showcased his elusive speed as the Miners dominated the Pioneers, winning it 42-6.

On the opening drive the Pioneers used RB Isaiah Cobb (Wyoming Valley West) early and often, but the Miners were ready for it and held the Pioneers to a single 1st down before forcing a punt.  Disaster almost struck when the punt was fumbled but then recovered by the Miners DB Lucas Tirpak (Dallas).  After an incomplete pass on 1st down, the Miners ran 13 consecutive running plays by utilizing Fox, RB Brady Mizenko (Hazleton Area) and RB Howie Shiner (Wilkes-Barre Area).  The drive exhausted the rest of the 1st quarter, and as the 2nd quarter began it was QB Drew Delucca (Pittston Area) who called his own number and scored from 4 yards out.  The 2-point conversion failed, and the Miners had an early 6-0 lead.

On the next drive, the Pioneers began to gain some yardage into Miner territory but the Miners got the ball back when Tirpak made a great individual play and intercepted a Pioneer pass at the Miner 31 yard line.  7 plays later, Fox scored on a blazing-fast 18-yard run, and when the 2-point conversion failed the Miners had a 12-0 lead with 5:43 left in the 1st half.

Starting their 3rd drive the Pioneers started to get things going on offense but were halted again when Miner DL Peter Youngcourt (Hazleton Area) forced a fumble which was recovered by the Miners at their own 36.  The Miners then struck quickly as Mizenko had a strong 20-yard run to the Pioneer 44 and then it was Fox again putting on the afterburners and scoring on a 44-yard TD run.  With the 2-point attempt again no good, the Miners led 18-0 with 3:57 left in the half.

The Pioneers started deep in their own territory on their next drive,  and the Miners answered immediately on defense.  Pioneer QB Ethan Lear (Berwick) was hit and fumbled and the loose ball was scooped up by an opportunistic Youngcourt who rumbled into the endzone for an 8-yard fumble return TD.  This time, the 2-point attempt was good and the Miners lead it 26-0 with 2:55 to go in the half.  Any hopes that the Pioneers had of getting on the scoreboard before the half were dashed when Fox intercepted a pass at the Miner 25.

The Pioneers finally got on the scoreboard when, after a lengthy hard fought drive, Cobb scored from 1 yard out to make it 26-6.

Unfortunately, any momentum the Pioneers had was dashed immediately when Fox returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for his 3rd TD of the game.  Wit a successful 2-point attempt by Mizenko, the Miners led 34-6 with 5:26 left in the 3rd quarter.   With the game well in hand, the Miners added one more score when Shiner hit paydirt from 5 yards out with 6:03 left in the game.  Mizenko converted another 2-point attempt, and that capped the scoring as the Miners won it 42-6

After the game I spoke to UNICO Game MVP Zack Fox of Wyoming Area, and I asked him about the kickoff return touchdown and how it developed:  “I don’t really run full speed (at first), I just wait until I see an opening and I gun it.”

Congrats to the Miners, winners of the 73rd annual UNICO Game!

Check out the photo gallery from the game courtesy of Sherryl Samuel:  https://pafootballnews.com/pfn/73rd-annual-unico-game-photo-gallery/

 

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