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Union City outlasts Kennedy Catholic 63-40

Tagged under: District 10, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| September 2, 2023

Hermitage: Union City put three running backs over the century mark, as the Bears won the first game of their 2023 campaign with a 63-40 victory over Kennedy Catholic Saturday afternoon in Hermitage.

“It was a wild one today, I’ve never been in a game where there was 100-plus points scored, but we’re happy with the win,” said Union City head coach Mike Wydro.

Austin Kerns, Skylar Olmstead, and Austin Brown rushed for 374 yards as Union City got their offense on track after mustering only six points during a 44-6 loss to Reynolds in Week 0. 

“Our backs and the offensive line did an outstanding job today, we were much improved on offense this week, I’m proud of the steps forward we took,” said Wydro.

The Bears opened up a 19-point lead at the end of the first quarter – Kennedy Catholic fumbled the opening kickoff at their 35-yard line, with Austin Kerns scoring on a 1-yard run six plays later.

After holding the Golden Eagles on fourth down from their 34-yard line – Austin Sherwood tossed a 34-yard touchdown pass to Daithin Kent. 

After a bad punt snap, the Bears set up shop at the Eagles’ 27-yard line; two plays later, Olmstead threw a 22-yard halfback option touchdown to J.J. Karmazin. It would be the game’s only two completed passes for the Bears.

 

Kennedy Catholic got the offense going in the second quarter when quarterback Rayvion Wilbon-Venab threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Brock Ondo while scoring on a 50-yard touchdown run and a 58-yard fumble return.

Rayvion Wilbon-Venab completed 12-of-23 passes for 179 yards while also rushing for 128 yards on 16 carries, accounting for four total touchdowns.

Union City scored a second-stanza touchdown when Kerns found the end zone for the second time in the contest, scoring on a 5-yard capping off a 47-yard drive at the 5:07 mark. The Bears held a 26-18 halftime lead.

“Kennedy Catholic did some amazing things to make plays happen, and so did we,” Wydro said. “This was an exciting game for a fan.”

Taking the football to begin the second half, the Bears scored twice as Olmstead scored on runs of 14 and four yards; Skylar’s 14-yard jaunt capped a 7-play 59-yard drive while his 4-yarder came following another Golden Eagles special teams mishap that set up the Bears at the 4-yard line.

Kennedy Catholic would get one back as Damian Harrison caught a 23-yard pass from Wilbon-Venab, followed by Austin Brown’s 20-yard scoring run with 47 seconds to play in the third quarter as Union City led 49-26 after three.

Austin Brown would add two more fourth-quarter touchdown runs of eight and 19 yards for the Bears; Brown rushed for 96 yards and three touchdowns in the second half. 

Harrison would make another 23-yard touchdown grab from Wilbon-Venab on the fourth quarter’s opening play, followed by Brown’s back-to-back scores. Harrison caught three passes for 73 yards and two touchdowns, all in the second half. 

 

Despite Union City holding only a 31-point lead at 63-32 with 6:48 to play – the running clock was implemented due to the fact the game had lasted three hours and twenty minutes in the heat up to that point.

Usually, the PIAA’s mercy clock goes into effect when a team leads another by 35 points in the second half.

“I can’t say enough for these guys hanging in there today and finishing this off following a tough week for us last week,” said Wydro.

Kennedy Catholic closed the scoring by marching 71 yards in seven plays as backup quarterback Roman Gulub tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ondo as time expired.

Brock Ondo caught seven passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns for the Golden Eagles. Kennedy Catholic will look to rebound next Saturday afternoon when they host (2-0) Lakeview.

Union City plays host to Eisenhower next Friday night. 

Game Highlights:

 

Union City 63 Kennedy Catholic 40

Score by Quarters

Union City  – 19 7 23 14 – 63
Kennedy Catholic  – 0 18 8 14 – 40

Scoring Summary

UC – Austin Kerns 1 yd run, (Lenord Stephen pat), 9:32 – 6-35

UC – Daithin Kent 34 yd pass from Austin Sherwood, (kick failed), 4:33 – 1-34

UC – J.J. Karmazin 22 yd pass from Skylar Olmstead, (kick failed), 0:03 – 2-27

Second Quarter

KC – Brock Ondo 40 yd pass from Rayvion Wilbon-Venab, (rush failed), 9:53 – 3-69

UC – Kerns 5 yd run, (Stephen pat), 5:07 – 8-47

KC – Wilbon-Venab 50 yd run, (pass failed), 4:50 – 1-50

KC – Wilbon-Venab 58 yd fumble return, (pass failed), 4:26

Third Quarter

UC – Olmstead 14 yd run, (Olmstead rush), 8:17 – 7-59

UC – Olmstead 4 yd run, (Olmstead rush), 5:02 – 4-4

KC – Damian Harrison 23 yd pass from Wilbon-Venab, (Kieran Scullin from Wilbon-Venab), 3:08 – 6-58

UC – Austin Brown 20 yd run, (Stephen pat), 0:47 – 4-72

Fourth Quarter

KC – Harrison 23 yd pass from Wilbon-Venab, (pass failed), 11:55 – 5-56

UC – Brown 8 yd run, (Stephen pat), 9:40 – 3-65

UC – Brown 19 yd run, (Stephen pat), 6:47

KC – Ondo 14 yd pass from Roman Gulub, (Scullin from Gulub), 0:00 – 7-71

Individual Stats

Rushing: UC – Olmstead 19-137, Kerns 16-124, Brown 9-113, T.J. Mitchum 1-0, Sherwood 1-13, Team 2-(-8). Totals: 48-379. KC – Wilbon-Venab 16-128, Damian Harrison 1-20, Team 2-(-31), Roman Gulub 2-(-13), Scullin 1-(-4). Totals: 22-100

Receiving: UC – Kent 1-34, Karmazin 1-22. KC – Brock Ondo 7-117, Scullin 3-72, Marcus Gunn 1-(-1), Levi Hailstock 3-(-11), Damian Harrison 3-73,

Passing: UC – Olmstead 1-for-1, 22 yards, 1 TD, Sherwood 1-for-2, 34 yards, TD. KC – Wilbon-Venab 12-for-23, 179 yards, 3 TD, Gulub 5-for-10, 71 yards, 1 TD.

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