Uniontown hammers Northeast, 34-7, in district play

ARMA, Kan. -- Uniontown kept its playoff hopes alive with a 34-7 whipping of winless Northeast-Arma here Friday night in Kansas Class 2-1A District 7 play. The Eagles improved to 1-1 in the district and 4-4 overall but have to beat powerhouse Pittsburg Colgan Thursday night to get into the Class 2-1A playoffs. Colgan defeated Pleasanton, 35-6, Friday night to clinch a playoff berth.

Davind Shank rushed for 82 yards on 11 carries for Uniontown and scored four touchdowns. His first was on a 15-yard run in the first quarter. Ben Dixon threw to Travis Aikins for a two-point conversion.

The second score was a 12-yard run in the second quarter. This time, the Eagles couldn't convert the two-pointer.

Kyle Whetsell brought Northeast (0-2, 0-8) within a score late in the half when he tossed a three-yard pass to Dallas Hendricks for a TD.

Uniontown scored 20 points in the third period. Shank had runs of two and 14 yards and Ethan Hammond scored on a five-yard run. Shank also kicked two of the extra points.

The Eagles rushed for 181 of their 193 total yards. Northeast only had 70 total yards, rushing 28 times for just 31 yards. Shank led Uniontown's defense with 11 tackles. Jordan Woods had two interceptions for the Eagles.

Colgan has all but clinched a Class 2-1A playoff berth with a 2-0 district mark and an 7-1 overall record. The Panthers are in as long as they don't end up in a three-way 2-1 tie breaker in which all three teams have the same number of tie-breaker points. If that happens, a complicated list of tie-breaking steps would come into play. Pleasanton fell to 1-1 and 6-2 but holds a win over Uniontown in the case of a two-way tie.

Uniontown can get into the playoffs under one of three scenarios:

1) Beat Colgan and hope for a Northeast win over Pleasanton. Uniontown would be district champion and Colgan the runner-up as a two-way tie is broken on head-to-head play.

2) Beat Colgan and see what the outcome of a three-way tie-breaker brings should Pleasanton also win. In order to gain a playoff berth this way, Uniontown has finish ahead of Pleasanton in tie-breaker points.

3) If they lose to Colgan, the Eagles would still have a chance if Northeast beat Pleasanton, again looking to come out on top of a three-way tiebreaker.

Three-way ties can be complicated to break because of confusion over what steps are taken once the first team in the tie-breaker is identifies. The KSHSAA attempted to clarify the matter over the summer.

Thursday night's game kicks off at 7 p.m. at the Uniontown High School stadium.