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Uniontown Junior High finishes unbeaten
UNIONTOWN -- Uniontown Junior High's football team took the early lead and then made it stand up for a 26-22 victory over Jayhawk Junior High Thursday night, completing an unbeaten regular season.
Over the course of the season, the Eagles had flattened Altoona-Midway 38-8, Oswego 50-16, Northeast 30-8, Marmaton Valley 48-18 and Crest 40-0. The also beat Pleasanton, 16-0, in a game suspended by lightning and called with four minutes left in the first quarter.
"I'm extremely proud of the junior high boys this year," UJH head coach Chad Hays said, a statement echoed by assistant Jeremy Neville. "They worked hard all summer and every day in practice to give themselves a chance at being successful. Finishing a season undefeated is a huge accomplishment.
"Jayhawk was a very good football team. Coach (Kirk) Holt does a great job with those boys. We knew coming in it was going to be a four-quarter battle. And it definitely was. Fortunately, we were able to come out on top but Jayhawk deserves a lot of credit. It was a fun game to be a part of."
In winning for the sixth time, the Eagles couldn't quite put away the Jayhawks Thursday night until they recovered an onside kick as time wound down.
Uniontown scored the game's first two touchdowns but the visitors kept hanging around, always coming back with the next score.
While the visitors kept it close, Uniontown never trailed and the closest margin in the game, other than the opening minute, was the final score.
After stopping the Jayhawks on the first series, the Eagles' Hayden Miller fielded the punt and went around his left end for 39 yards and the game's first score. Colton Eck ran in the two-pointer for an 8-0 margin with just two minutes gone.
Uniontown's next score came when Miller picked up a Jayhawk fumble and returned it 71 yards for the score. Eck was stopped on the two-point try but the Eagles had a 14-0 lead at the first-quarter break.
The Jayhawks kept it interesting though as Hayden Broyles got loose for a 64-yard touchdown at the 7:36 mark. The two-point try failed but they were back in it at 14-6.
A 15-yard holding penalty backed up the Eagles to their 21 but Miller broke two tackles and got into the open, sprinting 59 yards for the score. The two-point try failed but the difference was 20-6 with 6:26 left in the half.
Jayhawk came right back, mounting a 10-play drive that covered 55 yards, capped by Compton's pass to Nickelson for the final five yards and the TD.
Compton called his own number to close the margin to 20-14 with the conversion with 2:08 left.
Uniontown answered quickly, boosted by a 27-yard hookup from Miller to Andrew Reed. Later, Reed went up the middle, then bounced outside and went the final seven yards for the score with 34 seconds showing. The pass for 2 fell incomplete but the Eagles again had breathing room at 26-14.
Graham Hathaway recovered Jayhawk fumble to essentially close out the half.
The Eagles reached the 18 on their first drive of the second half but couldn't convert on fourth down.
Later, the visitors took over with 2:08 left and went 77 yards on eight plays, with Broyles going in from the 8. Nickelson added the two-point run to close the difference to what wound up as the final score.
Reed recovered the onside attempt and the Eagles let the clock wind down, celebrating their unbeaten season and dousing Coach Hays with water before they headed to the locker room.