Hard lessons learned earlier in the season paid off for the Union Wildcats Friday night in a 28-14 win over De Soto at Stierberger Stadium.
“It was a great win for our kids,” Union Head Coach Erick Webster said. “Their confidence seems to be growing through every snap of the football. De Soto came ready to play and our kids stepped up to the challenge. It was a hard-fought game by both teams, but we had some breakout games by several of our players that helped put us over the top.”
One of those breakout performances came from Logan Bellamy. The sophomore scored three touchdowns while catching six passes for 139 yards and running seven times for 36 yards.
“Logan Bellamy had a great game,” Webster said.
Union had 332 passing yards, all by quarterback Blake Hulsey. He was 24-45 in the game with three touchdowns and one interception. He ran the ball six times for 13 yards.
Jobie Richardson caught seven passes for 99 yards while Jake Siddens had three catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, John Prosser led the way with 10 tackles and two assists. Siddens had eight tackles and four assists. Blake Wright posted six tackles and six assists while Nick Maher had six tackles and three assists.
Logan Meyer and Cody Pace intercepted passes.
“On the other side of the ball I felt like we displayed a great team effort, and got off the field when it was needed the most,” Webster stated.
Union got a three-yard run from Bellamy to open scoring in the first quarter with 3:43 to play.
With five seconds left in the half, Bellamy scored again on a 16-yard pass from Hulsey. Both conversion attempts failed and Union led 12-0 at the intermission.
Garrett Keath scored on a 30-yard pass from Austin Hayes on a fake punt. Matt Politte kicked the extra point to cut the Union lead to 12-7.
Siddens scored on a 49-yard pass from Hulsey with 6:04 left in the third quarter. Hulsey hit Bellamy for the conversion pass to make it 20-7.
Bellamy then scored on an 89-yard pass from Hulsey with 1:15 to play in the third quarter. Hulsey connected with Bellamy for the two-point conversion to make it 28-7.
Keath scored on a 10-yard run with 9:14 to play and Politte kicked the extra point to make it 28-14, which is how it ended.
De Soto credited itself with 197 rushing yards on 37 carries and 159 passing yards while completing 12 of 24 attempts.
Owensville Preview
Union (2-4) returns to action Friday on the road, visiting Owensville (0-6) for a Four Rivers Conference game.
“When looking ahead at Owensville they are one team that has always played us very tough,” said Webster. “They are a team that struggled early on in the season like us, but are trying to right the ship in the second half of the season. We look for them to grind out long drives and try to control the clock. If we play our game, then the score should settle our way.”
To say it’s been a difficult season for the Dutchmen would be an understatement. Owensville allowed over 50 points in its first three games, losses to Borgia (57-7), Blair Oaks (59-0) and Salem (56-14).
The Dutchmen came close in a 14-7 loss to St. James and then lost to Hermann, 33-14. The Dutchmen faced another team without wins last week, but lost at Pacific, 49-14.
Terrick Ellis quarterbacks the Dutchmen and he’s completed 10 of 45 attempts for 269 yards, two touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Gage Tayloe has been the team’s top runner with 65 carries for 281 yards. He was one of the few bright spots in the loss to Pacific.
Ben Angell has caught four passes for 121 yards while Josh Gregor had two touchdown receptions for 106 total yards.
Defensively, Ryan Escalante leads the team with 36 total tackles and has added two sacks.
