Published: November 07, 2007 02:09 pm            

Nanih Waiya shuts out Union in season finale for Jackets

UNION — In the end, the well simply ran dry.

The Union Yellowjackets finished with their first losing season since the 2000 team went 2-9 with a 19-0 non-region loss at Nanih Waiya last Friday night.

The ‘Jackets ended their season at 4-6. Nanih Waiya improved to 7-3 going into the final week of the Class 1A regular season.

After winning three of their first four games, the ‘Jackets lost five of their last six in ‘07.

“Everybody had a good attitude this year and I hate it for these seniors,” Union head coach Brad Breland said. “Their senior year won’t be one necessarily that they’ll be proudest of, but they’ve been a part of 33 wins throughout their career, so they don’t have anything to be ashamed of. It just happened that their senior year was a rebuilding year and that happens to everybody.”

Neither team was able to score in the first half, although the ‘Jackets wasted three trips inside the Warrior 20.

With second-and-7 at the Nanih Waiya 15, Roderick Hawkins was tackled for a 5-yard loss and Shunadrick Landfair was tackled for an 11-yard loss. A fake punt from the Warrior 31 resulted in an incomplete pass by Hawkins.

Matthew James put the ‘Jackets in business at the Warrior 3 as he carried five straight plays for 47 yards. Hawkins was tackled for a loss of three on a fumbled toss on third down and for a loss of seven on fourth down as another opportunity went by the board.

Union had first-and-goal at the 7 late in the first half, but came away with a missed field goal after two runs lost eight yards and a third down pass was incomplete.

Statistically, the ‘Jackets owned the first half, picking up 122 yards — all on the ground — to Nanih Waiya’s 40 total yards.

“Without a doubt, we totally dominated the first half,” Breland said. “We got inside the 10-15 yard line three times and it should have been 21-0. And if it’s 21-0, the ballgame is over.

“Anytime you let somebody off the hook like that, they’re going to come back. I knew they were going to come back tough, but that’s the same story we’ve had all year long... inconsistencies.

“One time we might jump offside. The next time we might misread it. The next time we might fumble. We just put ourselves in a bad position too many times.

“We don’t have any good third-and-9 plays. When we’ve got it second-and-2 or 3 and then we fumble the next play, we can’t function like that. Nobody can and that’s what we did all season long.”

Union finished with 201 total yards with 133 coming on 29 rushes. Nanih Waiya had 319 total yards, with 309 coming on 46 rushes.

The second half would be another story as the Warriors rushed 30 times for 279 yards following intermission. In the fourth quarter, Nanih Waiya ran the ball 16 times for 202 yards.

The Warriors got on the scoreboard with 3:26 remaining in the third quarter on a 3-yard run by Fred Hampton. Austin Swart kicked the extra point. The 14-play scoring drive covered 57 yards and was aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on the ‘Jackets.

The Warriors then pulled away with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The first came on a 14-yard run by Hampton with 8:12 to go in the game.

The final points of the night came on a 56-yard run by Aries Cosby with 4:42 remaining. The Warriors were unable to add the extra points after the last two touchdowns.

        

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