Eagles have Homecoming bash on Indians

UNIONTOWN, Kan. -- Uniontown celebrated Homecoming in a very big way here Friday night, jumping out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead and going on to drub Oswego, 47-0 in Three Rivers League play.

The Eagles won for the second time in three weeks after an 0-3 start.

"The kids came out and played hard," Uniontown head coach Jim Mason said. "They came out and executed well, got after it. Honestly, our opponent wasn't as good as what we're going to face down the road even as early as next week. So we need to use this to build on and we certainly can enjoy it for the weekend. But come Monday, we have to get ready for a tough Pleasanton team."

The Eagles are 2-0 in the Three Rivers League, pulling into a tie for first place with Pleasanton, which lost a close game, 18-15, at Riverton Friday night to fall to 3-3 overall.

Oswego fell to 0-3 in its final league game of the season and 0-6 overall. The Indians have been outscored 145-18 this season, 94-0 in TRL games.

To be honest in assessing the game, the visiting Indians were as much responsible for their woes as Uniontown was. Oswego threw two interceptions, allowed a big punt return on special teams and failed to cover a kickoff, letting the ball bounce until an Eagle fell on it.

But the Eagle defense also broke through the Indian offensive line to stop several plays in the backfield for losses, doing a good job of "staying at home" or not drifting out of position. The No. 1 defense didn't allow Oswego to advance past the Uniontown 41-yard line and that was only because of a fluky kickoff.

Uniontown's offense scored on five of its seven first-half possessions and on the opening possession of the second half, which was played with a running clock throughout because of the halftime point spread of 40-0.

"Our offense is going pretty well right now," Mason said. "They put up 40 points last week against Baxter (Springs) in a game that we let some opportunities slip away, and put up 47 tonight. I feel pretty good about what our offense is doing. And our defense made some improvement on some things, so, hopefully that will all carry over."

The scoring began when Brandon Boyd's 47-yard punt return set Uniontown up at Oswego's 11. Zach Mason carried on both plays of the 33-second long drive, the second a two-yard plunge into the end zone with 9:09 to go, following David Shank's block over the left side of the line. The extra-point kick was no good.

Later in the period, Shawn Pritchett scored the first of his three touchdowns on a two-yard run on fourth down, reaching the goal on second effort. Quarterback Travis Aikins scored the two-point conversion with 1:58 on the clock.

The Eagles tried a squib kickoff, but the ball bounced oddly off a clump of grass and bounced in a semi-circle out of bounds at their own 43. But two plays later, Pritchett read a screen pass and jumped in front of it, intercepting the ball and taking it 57 yards to the house with 29 seconds to go in the first quarter. Mason's PAT kick made it 21-0.

Uniontown scored its three second-quarter touchdowns in a span of two minutes and 16 seconds. The first came on the first play of a drive from its own 34. Aikins lined up in the shotgun, took the snap and turned to hand off to one of his backs. However, both backs broke out to the side for an option play, forcing Aikins to improvise.

He improvised his way though Oswego's front seven and scampered 66 yards for a touchdown with 4:26 remaining. The PAT was no good, so Uniontown's lead was 27-0.

Then came the kickoff that Oswego let bounce. Instead of falling on it, an Indian blocker let the ball go, assuming the return men would come up and get it. But they didn't and Mason fell on it for the Eagles at the Oswego 27.

After a run was called back on a holding penalty, Aikins found Jamie Shelton wide open along the right sideline for a 33-yard touchdown with 3:19 to go in the half. Mason's PAT made it 34-0.

Pritchett recovered a botched Oswego handoff moments later, giving the Eagles the ball at the Indians' 33. Aikins found Boyd for 28 yards to the five and Pritchett finished the drive from there, scoring TD No. 3 with 2:10 to go.

Uniontown already had 221 total yards at halftime, 119 on the ground. Oswego had just 17 total yards at that point, with minus-2 yards rushing on 19 carries.

Boyd took the opening kickoff of the second half back 55 yards to the Oswego 25. Six plays later, Aikins followed Pritchett's lead block into the end zone to cap the scoring with 8:05 on the running clock. Mason hit the PAT a little more than 30 seconds later.

"Our biggest concern in the second half was to get in one more good, crisp series for both our offense and defense and then get everyone on the sideline out on the field for some Friday night action," Mason said.

Uniontown finished the night with 264 total yards. Aikins completed five of six passes for 102 yards, all of that coming in the first half, and was also the Eagles' leading rusher with 75 yards on six carries. Boyd had two receptions for 38 yards. Pritchett ran for 46 yards on eight carries.

Oswego finished with 62 total yards as the Indians finally got into positive rushing yards. Luke Spainhoward, the Homecoming King, was co-leader with eight tackles and also had an interception. Shelton also had eight tackles.

Uniontown travels to Pleasanton Friday night, which serves not only as the final league game of the season but also the Class 2-1A, District 5 opener for both teams. Pleasanton has yet to allow a point in league play this season.

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NOTES -- Jayme Shank was named Homecoming Queen….

Ag Choice from Hepler, Kan., hosted a pre-game hamburger feed and donated all the proceeds to USD 234. After the third quarter, it was announced that $600 was raised….