Union Mine ‘D’ keys big comeback victory

SACRAMENTO —  Despite holding the edge offensively early in Friday night's game, the Union Mine High football team needed a big comeback to knock off El Camino in the Diamondbacks' season opener. 

The visiting D'backs racked up 176 yards in the first half - 83 rushing, 93 passing. The Eagles had just 85 total yards, all but 5 on the ground.

Despite the advantage, first-game jitters had the D'backs trailing 10-0 early in the third quarter until the Union Mine defense took charge and paved the way for the offense to catch fire. The most important number of the night was the final score — 18-10 Union Mine.

 Union Mine is now 1-0 while the Eagles fall to 0-2 thanks to a zero week loss to Colfax, the team the D'backs face this Friday in Colfax.

Friday's pregame ceremony honored El Camino alumnus, Army Green Beret Joe Schultz, a former member of the football team who died in a roadside explosion in Afghanistan last May. His No. 77 jersey was officially retired.

Defense ruled the first half and the teams went into the break with El Camino holding a slim 3-0 lead thanks to Demetrius Kuwabara's 35-yard field goal at the 6:42 mark of the first quarter.

Eagle quarterback Jonah Lessard padded the lead three minutes into the third quarter on a 23-yard keeper and Kuwahara's point after split the uprights to make it 10-0.

After another turnover — the D'backs had four in the game — Union Mine needed a big play to grab the momentum. When the going gets tough, the tough get going and Union Mine's "D" came up with big plays when it needed to, starting with a sack of Lessard for a loss of 9 yards on the D'back 23. 

The offense responded. From deep in their own territory, the D'backs put together 10 plays culminating in quarterback Graham Bennett's 7-yard scoring strike to Kona Texeira. The PAT was blocked but the Eagles' lead was cut to four.

"We had enough grit to come back and pull this off," Union Mine coach Dave Johnson said. "They just kept scratching and battling back. They did enough to get it done. I'm really proud of them."

Johnson's halftime pep talk injected some confidence into the team's morale.

"We talked about what kind of team do we want to have," said Johnson, whose 2010 squad won a share of the Sierra Valley Conference title with River City and Vista del Lago. "Do we have enough grit to come back and pull this off?"

D'back defensive tackle Greg Close kept the momentum shifting to the visitors' side, pouncing on a loose ball at the Eagle 25 to put the D'back offense back on the field toward the end of the third quarter.

The drive carried over to the fourth quarter and the series ended with Sean Tow crossing the plane on a 1-yard off-tackle run to put Union Mine on top 12-10. The D'backs opted to try a two-point conversation but the pass failed. 

El Camino started its next possession at the 14, but coughed up the ball at the 45-yard line and Union Mine defensive back Scott McIntyre was there to recover. 

"It was a big mood changer," Tow said. 

Three plays later, Bennett, who completed 11 of 20 passes for 136 yards, hooked up with McIntyre on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 6:34 left in the game. The defense held and the D'backs boarded the bus for home with the first win of the season in the books.

Tow had a big night with 193 yards on 31 carries as Eagle defenders spent most of the night chasing the D'back, who carried two, three and sometimes four would-be tacklers on his back. 

"Without the line, we couldn't have gone anywhere," Tow said. "I felt like we came out like a young team but toward the end of the second half, we got more motivated. We just came out and decided to play better." 

Union Mine finished with 357 total yards, 221 on the ground. El Camino amassed 176 yards. 

It wasn't a perfect performance for the blue and burgundy, especially in the first half when Union Mine missed assignments on offense and defense and were slapped with penalties for false starts and offsides violations. Of the four times they had the ball, the D'backs twice turned it over on loss of downs and another time on a fumble. 

"It wasn't pretty. That was ugly football," Johnson said. "We kind of stumbled, kind of fumbled around (in the first half). We played a lot of guys on defense. It was hot (temperature wise) and we had guys cramping. When you're playing a team like that and they get up on you a little bit, they start getting confidence."

 

Mike Bush

Mike Bush is sports writer and features writer for the Mountain Democrat.

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