Union/A-C Valley Wins Thursday Thriller Over Keystone
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Shane Lux | September 5, 2025
Story by Phil “Protime: Myers
A blocked PAT in the second quarter and a blocked field goal attempt at the end of the game proved to be the difference as the visiting Union/AC Valley Falcon Knights downed the Keystone Panthers 15-14 before a large crowd in Knox on Thursday night. With the win, UACV moves to 3-0 on the year, while Keystone falls to 1-2. The winning coach, Dan Reed, said, “It feels good (to be 3-0), but honestly, it’s a grind.”
The game was football at its finest between two small D-9 schools that have high hopes for the year. For the most part, it was a clean, hard-hitting, back-and-forth pigskin contest. In the end, the Falcon Knights had a few more plays in them. Besides the two blocked kicks, Union’s freshman quarterback made a few nice passes in key situations that directly and indirectly led to the pair of UACV scores.
The first quarter found both defenses playing outstanding, holding the opposing offense to no points, although Union/ACV’s first drive had a touchdown called back due to holding. Keystone’s first possession got to the Falcon Knight 36 before they turned it over on downs. The second quarter saw a couple of touchdowns.
The Panthers’ Andrew Hoffman appeared to be the one to get his hand up and block Union/AC Valley’s punt to give his team a big break within the first minute of the second stanza. With the ball at the UACV 21, Keystone advanced the ball to the 8-yard line before a 12-yard sack and an incomplete pass ended the threat.
Then, after a penalty put the ball at the fifteen, Union/AC Valley’s freshman QB Andrew Kifer lofted a perfect pass to Trent Fleming, who made a nice move on his man to get open. Fleming caught the ball in stride and raced the rest of the way to the end zone to put the finishing touch on an 85-yard touchdown pass. “I’m comfortable with him throwing the ball,” said Coach Reed. Stephen Hepler added the PAT, and the UACV Falcon Knights led 7-0 about halfway through the second quarter.
To Keystone’s credit, they hit right back. Using up three minutes on the clock, the Panthers drove 53 yards in 7 plays to pull within a point. Keystone’s junior quarterback, Dom Corcetti, hit Joey Spence for a 7-yard score on third down. The point after was blocked by Colbin Elliott to enable his team to remain in the lead at 7-6 with 3:11 left before halftime. Little did anyone know that a single point after a try would be the difference in the game.
The third quarter saw Reese Runyon intercept a Kifer pass to give Keystone the ball at their 32, but they could only advance to the Union 49 before punting. The punt was an excellent kick by Corcetti as the ball was downed on the 2-yard line.
Union/AC Valley then embarked on a 98-yard scoring drive that lasted four and a half minutes and produced 11 plays. Two key plays on the drive were passes, as Kifer pitched the pigskin 42 yards to Parker Bish, then later on fourth down, young Mr. Kifer tossed a nice pass to Aidan Fox for a 13-yard first down. Max Gallagher polished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown. Kifer found Fox for the 2-point conversion, and Union/AC Valley led at the 4:16 mark, 15-6.
Again, the Panthers answered the bell. This time, the home team went 70 yards, scoring on a 14-yard run by Jacob Henry. The 2-point conversion was good when Henry reran the ball over the goal line. Now with twenty seconds left in the third, Keystone only trailed by a point, 15-14.
The fourth quarter opened with Union/AC Valley holding the ball for almost six minutes and advancing the ball to the Panther seven before the Keystone defense stopped the runner for a yard loss, and a bad snap wound up losing 14 yards, which Keystone recovered. But an inadvertent whistle blew the ball dead just before Panther James Rankin fell on the football, giving the Falcon Knights retention. However, two plays netted a yard, and Keystone took over without any damage done.
A first down was all Keystone could manage, and thus, they had to punt. Union punted the ball back, and the Keystone Panthers took over at their 47 with a minute and forty seconds remaining. A 34-yard pass to Eli Nellie and a 6-yard run by Corcetti put the ball at the UACV thirteen. Two incomplete passes made it fourth down, and the decision was made to send out the field goal team to go for the win. But the kick was low and blocked by the defense to preserve the win for Union/AC Valley.
Both quarterbacks had fine games, with the winning QB Kifer hitting 10 of 16 passes for 197 yards and one touchdown. The losing QB, Corcetti, found receivers on 15 of his 27 throws. Those caught passes ended up accounting for 182 yards. Union/ACV outgained Keystone 294 yards to 250.
“We’ve seen two excellent teams in a row,” stated Coach Reed, “we’re probably going to see these teams again if we have aspirations of getting very far in the D-9 playoffs. We’re going to have to get better. The discipline aspect has been hindering us, and we need to address that. I’m happy to get out of here with a win.” He also complimented his defensive coordinator, Mike Rainey, who “really understands the game.”
Next week, Union/AC Valley will host Cameron County, while Keystone travels to Kane.
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