{"id":16637,"date":"2016-09-03T12:02:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-03T16:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=16637"},"modified":"2016-09-03T12:02:23","modified_gmt":"2016-09-03T16:02:23","slug":"academy-park-speeds-past-unionville-22-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=16637","title":{"rendered":"Academy Park speeds past Unionville, 22-18"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indians overcome 14-0 deficit, but can’t hold on late<\/em><\/h2>\n

By Al Tustin<\/strong>, Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"UHSAPfb-1\"<\/a>

Academy Parks’ furious pass rush \u2014 led here by Kasai Crawford \u2014 harassed Unionville quarterback Alex Gorgone all night. Jim Gill photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

SHARON HILL \u2014 Like it, or not, speed kills, even on a football field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite forcing six turnovers and mounting an impressive comeback from a 14-0 deficit, the Unionville High School football team couldn\u2019t contain Academy Park\u2019s athleticism and sheer speed, losing a non-league game Friday night, 22-18.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, even with the loss \u2014 the Indians\u2019 second in two games \u2014 there were some positive takeaways from the contest against the formidable (2-0) Knights, winners of 15 of their last 16 contests, including a deep run into the AAA playoffs last season. Even if the results weren\u2019t ideal, it was a strong effort for a team that still figures to be a conference title contender and in the postseason picture.<\/span><\/p>\n

But all of the good doesn\u2019t sooth the hurt from a tough loss.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis one stings,\u201d Unionville head coach Pat Clark said after the game. \u201cOur kids played with such tremendous energy and effort against a really good team. To be down and come back \u2014 it stings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"UHSAPfb-3\"<\/a>

Unionville’s defense \u2014 here led by (42) James Watson and (43) Trevor Gardiner was largely able to contain Academy Park’s running game. Jim Gill photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite early struggles, a young and somewhat injury battered Unionville seemed to find its footing, especially on offense, and found ways to countermand the speed rush of Academy Park and mount drives. Junior QB Alex Gorgone \u2014 while often running for his life from the overwhelming pass rush of the Knights\u2019 \u2014 seemed to be more comfortable at the controls, ramping up the pass offense, while tailback Jack Adams (with backfield mates Chris D\u2019Amico and Dante Graham nursing injuries) was able to get the ground game going.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the defense, which has been solid from the start of the season, found another gear, and managed to limit the Knights\u2019 powerful offense much of the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

But early on, Unionville appeared to be unable to find a higher gear. On the Knights\u2019 first play from scrimmage, Dazhon Miller raced up the left sideline for a 70-yard score and it appeared that Unionville only had 10 men on the field, a key mental error that set the early tone. Then Teddy Wright picked off Gorgone for a 17-yard interception score, and the Indians found themselves on the road, in a deep hole and a bit shellshocked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of folding, though, the young Unionville squad found something \u2014 and the game changed from a would-be rout into a tense, closely fought battle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Unionville's<\/a>

Unionville’s Jack Adams races for the endzone \u2014 a play that gave the Indians a second half lead. Jim Gill photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

A bit of luck helped, of course, when a Gorgone pass to Joe Zubilaga in the end zone deflected off his hands only to end up in the warm embrace of Brady McShane for Unionville\u2019s first score, to make it 14-6. Then Miller fumbled \u2014 and an opportunistic Indians team took advantage, with Gorgone hitting Adams for 24-yard scoring pass to make it 14-12 at the half.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the second half, Adams keyed a long Indians\u2019 drive \u2014 arguably the teams\u2019 only sustained offensive march \u2014 only to see it stall at the Academy Park 20. But the Unionville defense forced another Miller fumble, getting the ball right back, leading to an Adams\u2019 3-yard TD run to make it 18-14.<\/span><\/p>\n

From there, it was a battle of wills \u2014 and Unionville fought to run down the clock and keep the Knights off the board. While the Indians\u2019 offense struggled to move the ball, the defense was stellar, forcing punts and turnovers to keep Academy Park away from the endzone.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in the end, though, speed killed. Miller \u2014 stymied since his first run \u2014 finally broke off another big run, race 40 yards for a score with less than 4:00 to go in the game, making it 22-18. The Indians were unable to mount another drive \u2014 the swarming Academy Park defense was just too much \u2014 sending Unionville to its second loss of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the coming foes are more familiar, the road may not be any easier for the Indians. Next week, they travel to rival Avon Grove \u2014 coached by long-time Unionville assistant Harry O\u2019Neill. The Red Devils are 2-0, with wins over Kennett and Oxford in the young season and clearly are a program on the rise under O\u2019Neill. Avon Grove tailback Nate Jones leads a potent offense.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNate Jones is phenomenal,\u201d Clark said. \u201cYou have to worry about play action off of it (the run game), and they\u2019re a program that is getting better and better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indians overcome 14-0 deficit, but can’t hold on late By Al Tustin, Staff Writer, The Times SHARON HILL \u2014 Like it, or not, speed kills, even on a football field. Despite forcing six turnovers and mounting an impressive comeback from a 14-0 deficit, the Unionville High School football team couldn\u2019t contain Academy Park\u2019s athleticism and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[3279,809,811],"class_list":["post-16637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-football","tag-indians","tag-unionville-high-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16637"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16639,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16637\/revisions\/16639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}