Union Knights Football Team

Knight Players of the Week:
OFFENSE:
Lineman - Justin Clark
Back - Jay Scheel
Receiver - Will Crees
Scout of week - Vincent Neil

DEFENSE:
Lineman - Josh Clark
Back - Nic Peters
Linebacker - Will Crees
Scout of week - Jacob Clark

SPECIAL TEAMS:
Kickoff - entire unit

By Cheyne Reiter

The Union Knights overwhelmed the Central Springs Panthers on Friday night, jumping out to a 50-0 halftime lead.

Central Springs attempted to keep the Knights high-powered offense off the field, grinding out a 16-play drive that saw the Knights shut down Central Springs inside the Knights five-yard line. When the Knights offense took the field, this game was ultimately over.

Quarterback Jay Scheel displayed his blazing speed, taking the second play from scrimmage and sprinting 98 yards for the Knights first score. After the two-point conversion pass to Cole Reiter was good, the Knights found themselves up 8-0 near the end of the first quarter.

The opportunistic Union defense forced five Panthers' fumbles, recovering four. Those turnovers led to an astounding 42 points in the second quarter. Scheel added touchdown runs of 18 and 21 yards and also threw his lone touchdown pass to Will Crees from ten yards out. Trev Hadachek rounded out the Union scoring with three touchdown carries from 1, 4, and 6 yards out. Before Central Springs could catch their breath, the Knights had a 50-0 lead.

With the continuous clock in effect for the entire second half, the Knights allowed just one third quarter touchdown with many reserves in the game to provide the 50-6 final score.

Scheel, Hadachek, and tight end Will Crees led the Knights in total yardage and scoring. Scheel ran for 142 yards on just four carries, three of those for touchdowns. He also amassed 106 yards passing, completing 6-of-9 passes with one touchdown. Hadachek had 52 yards rushing on 11 carries, three for touchdowns, while also snagging one catch for 40 yards. Crees led the Knights receiving core with 48 yards on three receptions.

As a team, the Knights dominated in every category. They had 15 first downs to Central Springs' 7 and had 376 totals yards to the Panthers' 173.

The victory for Union 2-1 (1-0 2A D3) sets them up with a battle against Osage (2-1) this Friday night in La Porte City. Osage is coming off their first loss as they suffered a 23-20, non-district defeat at the hands of 1A's No. 10 ranked Saint Ansgar. Union last played Osage in 2007, losing the Knights' homecoming, 19-17.