A 46-22 home victory for the Union High School football team (1-1) put the Spartans back at .500 on the year as they defeated Bear Grass Charter on Thursday evening.
Union came into the game hoping for a better result after falling on the road to Southern Wayne 26-14 in the season opener.
It didn’t take long for the Spartans to get on the board.
On the first drive, Union running back Tobias Cromartie received the carry and broke off a huge run to get into the end zone and draw first blood. The two-point conversion after the touchdown was good, putting the Spartans up 8-0.
The Spartans then flipped to the defensive side and managed to force Bear Grass to punt on its first possession. With the ball back, Union’s Marquavion Melvin found space and powered his way into Bear Grass territory at the 35-yard line. The momentum was halted a play later when Spartan quarterback Derik Aycock fumbled the snap, which was recovered by the Bear Grass defense.
The Spartan defense, however, had a response ready.
Shortly after a holding penalty pushed the Bears farther back on their side of the field, a decent gain on third down encouraged Bear Grass to take a chance on fourth-and-short. The BGC quarterback dropped back in the pocket, scanned the field for his options and threw toward the sideline. Union defensive back Jayden Murphy read the route and jumped in front of the pass to record an interception, giving the ball back to his offense.
One play later, the Union rushing attack appeared to pay the defense back immediately, as Cromartie took the snap and rushed for a 55-yard touchdown. The score was called back due to a holding penalty. On the next play, Cromartie broke off another long run, but again, a second penalty negated the gain.
Then came a repeat of the second drive.
After another fumbled snap at the line, Aycock stepped back in the pocket and threw the ball to his intended receiver, but it was picked off by the Bears’ secondary for the second straight Union turnover.
With new momentum on its side, the Bear Grass offense found success in the running game, moving quickly down the field toward Union’s red zone. On third down, the Bears snuck the ball up the middle for what appeared to be a score, but an offensive penalty negated the touchdown and moved them farther back.
One play later, on fourth down with the ball near Union’s 5-yard line, Bear Grass opted to go for six points. The BGC quarterback rolled to his left in the pocket and spotted a receiver who appeared open. As he threw the pass, Murphy again made a play on the ball, getting his hands on it to break up the pass and force a turnover on downs.
Back on offense two plays later, another fumbled snap on the exchange was picked up by Aycock and handed off to Cromartie. The Union running back ran to his right and evaded a Bears defender, then juked another to his left, breaking free down the sideline. Cromartie was too fast for BGC to keep up with, as the rushing play resulted in a 95-yard touchdown to put Union up 14-0.
The Spartans went into halftime up two scores, and when play resumed, they picked up where they left off.
This time, a few plays into the second half, it was Melvin’s turn to get into the end zone, as he broke off a huge run to put Union up 20-0. On the two-point conversion, another fumbled exchange occurred at the line, but Aycock was ready, scrambling out of the pocket and into the end zone to add two more points.
On the next possession, the Bears were able to score to cut into the lead, but it didn’t last long, as another big rush from Union’s Melvin resulted in his second touchdown of the day, making the score 30-8.
Both sides traded possession of the football before the Bears were able to find success again on the ground for their second score. But Union, finding success on huge chunk runs, was again able to get a boost from its rushing attack.
Melvin took his next carry, cut past the defensive line and powered his way toward Bear Grass territory before being brought down at the 5-yard line. Moments later, his running back counterpart, Cromartie, punched the ball in for six, scoring his third touchdown of the game. On the two-point conversion, a pass from Aycock was caught by Melvin to make the score 38-14.
On the next possession for Bear Grass, the Union defense made another play. As the quarterback scrambled outside the pocket, Spartan sophomore linebacker Troy Greenway hit the ball carrier hard, knocking the ball free. Union defenders swarmed the loose ball and recovered it to set up a short field for the Spartans.
Taking advantage immediately, Union’s Melvin scored his third touchdown of the day, with another successful two-point conversion putting Union up 46-14. The Bears were able to score one more touchdown to cut the final margin to 46-22.
“I feel like we came out and set the tone, had them scared,” Cromartie said postgame. “That allowed us to go ahead and get up early to shake them. On offense, we have a lot of chemistry. The first eleven on the field, we always try to set the tone and make sure that the other team knows we’re coming. So when we first put that ball in the end zone, we had them shook. With him (Melvin) and me running the ball, it opened more opportunities for both of us.”
Melvin felt similarly.
“I felt like we set the tone early in the game, and after that, we kept it up,” he added.
Being able to come out at home and score three touchdowns as a sophomore meant a lot to Melvin.
“It felt good,” he expressed. “I just have to keep working hard and get better.”
The win over Bear Grass was significant for Union head coach Mark Oates, who noted that the Bears’ rushing attack had given the Spartans trouble in the past.
“We haven’t been able to stop their run,” Oates explained. “So today, it was a blessing that we were able to do that. I think it made the kids believe, and we just got stronger as the game went on.”
The victory carried additional meaning for Oates, who was dealing with a loss in his family prior to kickoff. His players, he learned, had decided they wanted to play the game for their coach.
“Today’s been a tough day for me, but these guys kind of put a little shine on it,” Oates said. “So it helped ease the pain of that a little bit. I didn’t want to put any pressure on them; I heard them talking earlier that they were going to play for me, which I didn’t want them to do that, but they did, and I appreciate that.”
With the Bears in the rearview mirror, the Spartans move on to next week, when they head back on the road to face Lejeune on Friday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m.