Strong finish: Connellsville closes season with win over Uniontown, retains Coal Bucket
Connellsville wanted to make sure it headed into the offseason with the Coal Bucket still safely in its possession.
The Falcons closed their first football season as an independent with a 27-6 win over Uniontown at Bill Power Stadium on Friday night, retaining the trophy that goes to the winner of the Fayette County rivalry.
Linkon Keller rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown and Connellsville蘑菇视频 defense held the Red Raiders鈥� offense off the scoreboard as the Falcons closed the season with a 3-6 record.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 a nice tradition,鈥� said Jace McLeen, one of the Falcons three head coaches, on playing for the Coal Bucket trophy.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 a great rivalry in the county and we try to stress to these kids that this is something to play for since we don鈥檛 have playoffs as independent schools,鈥� Uniontown coach Keith Jeffries. 鈥淚 never got to play in a Coal Bucket game but I鈥檝e coached in several. Our goal was to get that trophy back off of them but we came up short.鈥�
Jayden Mickens and Grayden Gillott ran for 59 and 43 yards, respectively, with each scoring a touchdown for Connellsville which dominated time of possession, holding the ball for 28:13 to 19:47 for Uniontown.
The Red Raiders鈥� lone score came in electrifying fashion with Calvin Winfrey III returning a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter but Connellsville蘑菇视频 defense kept the Red Raiders contained most of the night. The Falcons limited Uniontown to just 92 total yards and sacked Winfrey five times.
鈥淥ur goal this week was to pitch a shutout and even though they got six on the board it was a shutout for the defense,鈥� McLean said. 鈥淭hey played hard all week at practice. They knew they鈥檙e offense really well. They showed up to play tonight.鈥�
When he had time Winfrey was effective, completing 5 of 11 passes for 78 yards although he was intercepted twice on hurried throws. Notorious Grooms had three receptions for 59 yards and Kelan Milsom had one catch for 18 yards.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to do a better job pass protecting to give Calvin more time to throw the ball,鈥� Jeffries said. 鈥淭ory had some nice catches for us and Kelan made a nice catch.鈥�
Connellsville churned out 348 yards of offense with all but four of those coming on the ground and had 18 first downs to seven for the Red Raiders (3-5).
David Ranitu led Uniontown蘑菇视频 rushing attack with 35 yards on nine carries and Jamarie Walker had 30 yards on six attempts.
Connellsville mounted a threat on its second drive of the game when it moved from its own 42 to the Uniontown 7 but Ranitu intercepted a Parker Lembo pass at the goal line to turn the Falcons away.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been a bend but don鈥檛 want defense most of the year and we did come up with two interceptions to stop drives near the goal line tonight,鈥� Jeffries said. 鈥淲e did the same thing against Allderdice and Perry. But our defense was just on the field too long.鈥�
鈥淗at蘑菇视频 off to them,鈥� McLean said of Uniontown. 鈥淭hey played hard but I think we just overpowered them. We have a few more kids than they do and it showed in the end.鈥�
The Red Raiders, sparked by runs of 16 and 20 yards by Walker and a 37-yard pass by Winfrey to Grooms, drove to the Connellsville 23 early in the second quarter. The Falcons鈥� Vonny McBride thwarted the threat with an interception on a fourth-down pass at the Uniontown 11.
Connellsville then put together a nine-play, 78-yard touchdown drive sparked by Gillott who had runs of 13 and 25 yards in the march which he finished with a 5-yard run. Ranitu blocked the extra point leaving the Falcons up 6-0 with 4:17 left in the second quarter.
Winfrey answered with his kickoff return for a score down the left sideline to pull the Red Raiders even at 6-6 as the extra point was missed.
鈥淛ust an outstanding individual effort by Calvin,鈥� Jeffries said. 鈥淲e made some good plays on special teams.鈥�
Undaunted, Connellsville answered right back on its next possession with a 79-yard touchdown drive keyed by Keller蘑菇视频 54-yard run on the first play down to the Uniontown 21. Mickens scored from 3 yards out five plays later and Derek Routzahn蘑菇视频 extra point put the Falcons in front to stay, 13-6, with 1:41 left in the half.
Connellsville had a chance to tack on to its lead before intermission when its defense forced a three-and-out and Keller broke another long run, this one for 38 yards, to the Uniontown 37 with 22 seconds left. Lembo蘑菇视频 long pass on the next play was picked off by Grooms at the 8-yard line, however.
The Falcons took control of the game early in the third quarter when their defense forced another three-and-out and the offense moved 57-yards in nine plays for a touchdown as Uniontown蘑菇视频 defense began to wear down.
The drive included runs of 14 yards by Wyatt Hall, 12 and 11 yards by Mickens and 11 yards by Ethan Foley. Lembo capped it with a 1-yard plunge to make it 20-6 with 5:24 left in the third.
Keller followed a 14-yard run with an 8-yard touchdown burst later in the quarter to put the visitors ahead 27-6.
鈥淟inkon is our heart and soul,鈥� McLean said. 鈥淗e蘑菇视频 only a sophomore. He蘑菇视频 my leader on the defense and he蘑菇视频 a leader on offense, too. The kids look up to him even though he蘑菇视频 an underclassman.鈥�
Uniontown蘑菇视频 last offensive push came early in the fourth quarter when Winfrey completed passes of 15 yards to Grooms and 18 yards to Milsom but Keller蘑菇视频 interception and 26-yard return to the Connellsville 42 halted the threat.
鈥淚t was a good game overall,鈥� McLean said. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of our boys, especially our seniors. These seniors have been through a lot. Last we went 5-5, this year we were a little bit up and down but they stuck with us all year and battled.鈥�
Uniontown will close its season with a home game against Southern Garrett of Maryland next week.
鈥淭his is an important game for us,鈥� Jeffries said. 鈥淲e were 5-5 two years ago but we beat Carrick twice and Brownsville twice so we only beat three teams. Last year we were 4-5 but we beat Brownsville twice so again we just beat three teams. If we can beat Southern Garrett it would give us a win against four different teams for the first time since I鈥檝e been here.
鈥淪o our goal is to do that and finish the season on a positive note.鈥�