UJH football finishes unbeaten

Uniontown's Colt Eck turns the corner for a big gain during the first half of play against Jayhawk-Linn Thursday evening. (Matthew Resnick/Special to the Tribune)

Uniontown Junior High football team put the cherry on top of a perfect season with a 46-16 rout of Jayhawk-Linn here Thursday night.

The convincing victory capped the Eagles second consecutive unblemished season. The Eagles finished 7-0 this year and 6-0 in 2014.

"I am extremely happy for my players," Eagle head coach Chad Hays said. "The boys worked their tails off during offseason conditioning and during practice this year. Their success was definitely earned and not given to them. They were a special group of boys."

Uniontown's power backfield, featuring tailback Andrew Reed and fullback Colt Eck, rolled up 250-plus yards on the ground as the tandem steamrolled the Jayhawk-Linn defense from beginning to end. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, the Eagles defense was stout as the Jayhawks were unable to pick up a first down until midway through the third quarter.

"Our boys played fast and physical," Hays said.

Uniontown scored on its first possession as Eck carried the ball twice for 48 yards and a touchdown, scoring on a 12-yard toss-sweep with 3:40 to play in the first quarter. A pass from quarterback Ty Davidson to Reed on the 2-point conversion made it 8-0.

After snuffing out a fake punt late in the first quarter, the Eagles took over at the Jayhawk-Linn 27-yard line. On first down, Reed swept right then cut back inside, breaking a pair of tackles in the secondary en route to the end zone. Reed then went off-tackle on the 2-point conversion make it 16-0 with 1:13 remaining in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Jake Harvey returned a punt 15 yards to the Jayhawk-Linn 22. A few plays later, Reed once again got to the edge as he scampered in from 11 yards out. The conversion was unsuccessful.

On defense, Dalton Graham's third-down sack of Jayhawk quarterback Brance Ware forced a punt. Uniontown was once again set up with good field position at the Jayhawk 38-yard line. A toss-sweep right to Reed resulted in a 38-yard touchdown romp on the drive's first play. With the successful 2-point conversion, the Eagles lead swelled to 30-0 with 3:55 left in the first half.

Early in the second half, Uniontown took over at the Jayhawks' 28-yard line after forcing a turnover on downs. Two plays later, Davidson was able to get the Jayhawk defense to bite on a fake pitch left to Eck, then rolled to the right and turned the corner going in untouched for the 10-yard score. Davidson's swing pass to Eck for the conversion made it a 38-0 advantage.

Jayhawk-Linn finally got on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter. On third-and-8 from the Uniontown nine, Ware threw back to running back Lane Thompson who then lofted a pass across the field connecting with his quarterback streaking down the left sideline. Ware made the catch in stride and glided into the end zone. The Jayhawks trailed 38-8 after Thompson's successful rush on the 2-point attempt.

Uniontown scored its final touchdown of the game with 1:58 remaining in the third quarter courtesy of 32-yard Reed run, his fourth score of the contest. Davidson kepr the ball for the 2-PAT as Uniontown increased its lead to 46-8.

"The eighth-graders finished their junior high careers never having lost a football game," Hays said. "Andrew, Colt, Dalton, and Ty were the heart and soul of our team."

Hays had high praise for a number of other eighth-graders.

"This was Hunter Martin's first year out for football and he was by far our most improved player over the course of the season," Hays said. "Matthew Harclerode also showed lots of improvement. These eighth-graders were a special group of kids."

Hays said he was impressed with his team's gritty approach.

"We weren't the biggest team in the world," he said. "A lot of times if you were watching warm-ups you wouldn't think we had a chance against a lot of the teams we played. But these kids play the game how it is supposed to be played, with a lot of effort and toughness."