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Warriors blank Red Raiders, 28-0

By Jonathan Guth jguth@heraldstandard.Com 6 min read
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Jonathan Guth | Herald-Standard

Elizabeth Forward’s Chase Whatton pursues Uniontown’s Javon Davis during Friday’s Big East Conference game at Warriors Stadium. Whatton had five tackles behind the line of scrimmage for 33 yards in the Warriors’ 28-0 victory.

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Jonathan Guth

Uniontown recovers a fumble during a game against Elizabeth Forward last season. The Uniontown Area School District reversed course and gave the OK for the Red Raiders to participate in football, as well as boys soccer and girls soccer, for the fall season, it announced on Friday.

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Jonathan Guth | Herald-Standard

Elizabeth Forward’s Nico Mrvos passes during Friday’s Big East Conference game against Uniontown at Warriors Stadium.

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Jonathan Guth | Herald-Standard

Uniontown’s Torry Robinson is about to pass during Friday’s Big East Conference game against Elizabeth Forward at Warriors Stadium.

ELIZABETH — Elizabeth Forward scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams in its 28-0 victory over Uniontown on Friday in Big East Conference play at Warriors Stadium in the Herald-Standard Game of the Week.

The playoff-bound Warriors (5-2, 6-2) were challenged offensively by the Red Raiders, but Elizabeth Forward’s defense, led by Chase Whatton, pitched its second straight shutout.

“As a whole unit, our defense played really, really well,” Elizabeth Forward coach Mike Collodi said. “It is our second shutout in a row, and that’s what we preached all week. It was a group effort.

“All 11 guys on defense and a couple of guys that rotate in. I don’t know the total yardage, but we did pretty well. From Day 1 since I got here five years ago, we preached fast, physical football, especially on the defensive side, and I think that’s what we do.”

Whatton, a junior, had five tackles for loss that accumulated 33 yards, and had one reception for 35 yards.

“They’re a very run-heavy team, and I think we utilized that all week at practice,” Whatton said. “We just kept practicing that all week. I’m very quick off the ball. I like to watch the ball and get off as fast as I can.”

The Warriors drove to the Uniontown 35 on their opening possession, but the drive ended when the Red Raiders’ Cameron Walton recovered a fumble at 8:05 of the first quarter.

The Red Raiders (0-7, 0-9) forced a turnovers on downs when they took over at their own 14 with 11:04 remaining in the second quarter.

“I thought our kids did a really good job tonight of playing the game the way we want to play it,” Uniontown coach Cedric Lloyd said. “We were down, 14-0, at half, and had some chances to score, plus we gave a punt return to them.

“I credit our kids for how they played tonight, defensively. Offensively, we have to do a better job of putting some points on the board, and as we mature, I think we will.”

Elizabeth Forward scored on its third drive when Jacob Prah pulled in a 24-yard touchdown reception from Nico Mrvos at 6:42 of the second quarter for a 7-0 lead after Andrew Smith made the first of four PATs. Mrvos was 2 of 7 for 59 yards and had an interception on defense.

The Warriors forced Uniontown to punt on its next drive and Zach Boyd scored on a 44-yard return for a 14-0 advantage with 4:20 remaining before halftime.

“We preach special teams, and we work on them almost every single day,” Collodi said. “We always have a gameplan for special teams because I feel that’s another facet of the game that people sometimes overlook, and tonight it paid off. It is also a big momentum swing when you score on special teams, as well as when you score a defensive touchdown.”

The Red Raiders were pinned deep inside their own territory, but got some breathing room when Jake Shiley caught a 34-yard pass from Torry Robinson at the Uniontown 35. Robinson was 4 of 9 for 50 yards and Shiley caught two passes for 47 yards.

The Red Raiders had to punt the ball back to Elizabeth Forward, but Robinson ended the Warriors’ scoring chance with an interception with 41 seconds left in the half.

“We have to get takeaways, and then when we get them, we have to continue to move the ball down the field and execute plays,” Lloyd said. “We get one good play, then we get five bad plays. That’s just not going to do it. This is a pretty powerful league, and that’s a pretty good team that we played tonight. We stuck with them, but sticking is not enough. You have to execute and try to win the game.”

Uniontown made another big play on defense when Ken Toaisi stopped an EF ball carrier short to force a turnover on downs at 7:40 of the third quarter.

The Red Raiders couldn’t get another going on the ensuing drive and had to punt, but Javon Davis came up with an interception to give the ball back to Uniontown.

“I think Coach (Cedric) Lloyd is doing a good job down there,” Collodi said. “He has some really good athletes over there, and he’s putting it together piece-by-piece. They are a good team and they play hard for him.”

The Warriors’ defense got into the scoring column at 4:33 of the third quarter when Nicholas Murphy recovered a Red Raider fumble in the end zone for a 21-0 lead.

“This is the fourth time in four weeks that we scored on defense,” Whatton said.

Evan Lewis, who rushed for 28 yards on eight carries, capped the scoring with a three-yard run at 3:36 of the fourth quarter.

Teammate Nicholas Hunnell had a game-high 105 yards rushing on 13 carries. EF’s Kyle Flournoy gained 39 yards on eight attempts.

Shiley rushed for 23 yards on 11 carries.

The Warriors travel to Cougar Mountain to play rival Yough (1-6, 1-8) in their regular-season finale next week at 7 p.m. before the playoffs begin.

“Yough is a river-rivalry game because it’s only about 10 minutes away,” Collodi said. “You can’t overlook anybody, and I know our kids will get up to play them. The records go out the window. We won’t be looking ahead to the playoff, I can assure you that.”

Uniontown hosts Mount Pleasant (3-4, 4-5) at Bill Power Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“I think we have to improve our execution this week,” Lloyd said. “We are going to go back, look at the film and make sure everyone understands they have to execute their job.

“Defensively, we are going to continue to get after it. I like our mentality on the defensive side of the ball. The kids are flying around and proving they have a reason to play this game, and we have to find that on the offensive side also.”

The Red Raiders have been without freshman quarterback Craig Soltis, who was the starter when the season began but was injured. Robinson and Shiley have filled in for Soltis.

“He (Soltis) had a freak accident a couple of weeks ago and it cost him the rest of his freshman season,” Lloyd said. “He is going to be a pretty good kid for us down the way.”

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