Wheelersburg Ends Union Locals Season in Tight Contest
By: TJ Sweeney
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BELMONT, Ohio (WOUB) — The Union Local Jets welcomed the Wheelersburg Pirates for round two of the playoffs. In an intense matchup, the Pirates won 28-23.
The Pirates won the toss and decided to defer. Both the Jets and the Pirates failed to get anything going on their first drives. Once the Jets got the ball back, they found identity. Union Local advanced the ball down the field, but once they got in the red zone, the Wheelersburg defense came up big and forced Union Local to settle for a field goal.
The Pirates responded quickly. Running back Elijah Brown paved the way for his team as he strung together multiple strong runs to move the ball down the field. The Pirates worked their way to the Jets’ 39-yard line where quarterback Braylon Rucker found his checkdown, Ison Emnett, who did the rest of the work to grab the lead for Wheelersburg.
Keeping their momentum, the Pirates added another touchdown as Brown found the end zone from three yards out to put the Pirates up 14-3 heading into halftime.
Both teams found their offensive groove in the second half. Wheelersburg marched down the field and Rucker rushed into the endzone from 19 yards out to cement the Pirates’ lead at 21-3.
The Jets got to work instantly. On the kickoff they got all the way to the Pirates’ 35-yard line. A few plays later, running back Brody Perzanowski bullied his way into the endzone to ensure that Union Local wouldn’t be left in the dust.
On the ensuing Wheelersburg drive, the Jets defense made a huge stop, and their offense used the momentum to add another touchdown to the scoreboard. Tomolonis added a quarterback rushing touchdown of his own from 10 yards out.
As the Jets crept closer, the Pirates responded. Rucker scrambled in for his second rushing touchdown of the night and third total to put his team up 28-16.
The Jets wanted to make it known that they weren’t yet out of the game. Tomolonis unleashed the cannon and found Dre Saunders for a 61-yard touchdown to bring Union Local within five points.
Wheelersburg were looking to cap this game off, but were forced to go for a 39-yard field goal that ultimately went wide.
The Jets took over with roughly a minute left in the fourth quarter. Tomolonis finds Saunders for a 38-yard catch to put them past midfield. After spiking the ball to stop the clock, Tomolonis looked deep and heaved the ball into the endzone where he faced a similar fate – throwing an interception.
The Pirates kneeled the ball and let the clock run out to win the game, 28-23. For the regional semi-final, the Wheelersburg Pirates will meet the seventh-seeded West Muskingum Tornadoes at a neutral site.