Uniontown dominates Scotties
ALVERTON – If the Uniontown Red Raiders were looking past the Southmoreland Scotties on Friday, it certainly wasn’t evident. The Red Raiders scored on seven of their first eight possessions on the way to a 44-14 Keystone Conference win. Uniontown (4-1, 5-3) drove 80 yards in nine plays after holding the Scotties to four yards on the opening possession.
Arnold Walker carried three times for 24 yards and Aaron Prescott caught a pair of passes from Lucas Mosco for 40 yards to set up Ron Skinner’s 4-yard touchdown run.
The Red Raiders covered 55 yards in four plays on their next drive, with Walker gaining 22 yards and Jake Forsythe gaining 38 yards, including the final 23 yards to score.
On the next drive, a 49-yard pass from Mosco to Forsythe set up Walker’s 13-yard touchdown run.
After Mosco added a 37-yard field goal, Walker and Forsythe each scored their second touchdowns from 3-yards and 2-yards respectively for a 37-0 halftime lead.
Fred Johnson joined the scoring parade when he returned the second half kickoff 95 yards to the end zone for a 44-0 lead.
Southmoreland (0-5, 0-8) responded with several gadget plays that led to touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters.
A fourth down pass from punter Jeremy Hixson to Dakota Datz covered 16 yards to continue a 76-yard drive that was capped by Datz’s 3-yard run. Uniontown helped the drive by committing two penalties for 20 yards.
The Scotties drove 60 yards to score on the next drive with the help of an option pass from Connor McKlveen to Dalton Barbus that covered 50 yards and set up Austin DeWitt’s 5-yard touchdown run.
Uniontown coach John Fortugna praised his offensive line and running backs. “We knew we could run the football. In the first quarter, we were a little sluggish.
“Arnold Walker (102 yards in 12 carries), our other backs and our offensive line did a great job.”
Fortugna said Southmoreland “Didn’t quit. I give their kids and coaches credit.”
Southmoreland coach Brian Pritts said “we could have thrown in the towel after that kickoff return. But we responded. I’m not happy with a loss, but I’m proud of our effort. We have some positives to build on for the last week.”