SUGAR GROVE — Worthington Christian ran for 280 yards on 37 carries and scored 42 unanswered points as the Warriors ran away with Berne Union for a 56-17 victory Friday night, Sept. 25.
“They are very physical up front, and they obviously had (defensive) pressure on us all night,” Berne Union coach Tony Hurps said. “So, it was pretty tough for us to run the ball or do much all night.”
Worthington Christian (4-2) received the opening kickoff and drove down the field with relative ease, going 65 yards in 10 plays that ended with a nine-yard touchdown run from Josh Unger to put the Warriors on top 7-0 just four minutes in.
After Berne Union (3-3) went three-and-out on its first possession, Worthington Christian again moved the ball quickly into Rocket territory. On second down at the Rockets 44-yard line, the Warriors attempted a wide receiver bubble screen to the left. However, Berne Union’s Jackson Little read the play perfectly and jumped the route to intercept the pass from Warriors quarterback Isaac Zerkle, and Little ran the ball 56 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
“We were trying to mix and match and disguise coverage as best we could,” Hurps said, “and that was one that we guessed right on.”
The Warriors responded with a six-play, 55-yard drive that saw Unger score his second touchdown of the night to put the visitors back in the lead. And on the ensuing kickoff, Berne Union’s James Hocking returned the kick 66 yards down to the Warriors’ 26-yard line, setting up his team in great position.
The Rockets did not waste that opportunity. On the first play, quarterback Carson Kiger took the snap and rolled to his left to evade pressure and spun a perfect spiral pass to Hocking for the touchdown to tie the game at 14-14.
Berne Union’s defense then responded with a big play when Cameron Brown and Dilan Carter combined on a tackle and popped the ball free, and Aiden Long recovered. It set the Rockets up on their own 40 with a drive to try and take the lead. However, the Warrior defense forced a three-and-out, and the Rockets punted away; Dom Ortega returned the ball inside the five-yard line.
Two plays later, Bailey Murray dove into the end zone from two yards out to give the Warriors a 21-14 lead with nine minutes left in the first half.
Later in the quarter with Rockets down 28-14, Hurps threw a new offensive wrinkle into play with senior receiver James Hocking in the backfield as a running back in an old-school I formation. Hocking’s first carry was a 28-yard gain, and after a few more plays the Rockets were inside the 10 yard line.
But after getting stuffed on runs up the middle by the physical Warrior defensive line, the Rockets went for it on fourth down from the three and came up short. Kiger dropped back to pass and rolled to his left, looking for an open receiver, and ultimately tried to evade some defenders and run it in, but was tackled for a loss and the Rockets turned the ball over on downs with just two minutes left to play in the first half.
“We just couldn’t capitalize on it and I think that hurt us going into halftime,” Hurps said of the sequence.
Berne Union’s only other score of the night came on a 34-yard field goal that Aidan Harris boomed through the uprights with 5:48 left in the game.
Hocking was the leading rusher for the Rockets with 35 yards on five carries, while Kiger finished with 63 passing yards while completing 9 of 21 passes. As a team, Berne Union managed just 73 rushing yards on 27 attempts, good for a 2.7 yard per-carry average.
Unger led Worthington Christian with 87 rushing yards on 13 attempts and three touchdowns, while Dom Ortega, Bailey Murray, TiJe Adediran all had a rushing touchdown and Zerkle added one passing touchdown.
Berne Union will aim to rebound with league play next week as it travels to Grove City Christian.
“We touched on it in the huddle: ‘ This game hurts.’ That’s a really good team, and all of our losses have been to pretty good teams,” Hurps said. “But we don’t have any league losses. (Grove City Christian) Next week, they played Worthing Christian, so we have a common opponent, and they didn’t score, so I think that’s going to be a really tough matchup. I think we’re two of the better teams in the league, so that’s still out in front for those guys.”
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Warriors dominate Berne Union in MSL-Cardinal clash
