Box Score
CANTON, NY -- Justin Gallo caught a five yard touchdown pass from Andrew Connolly in the overtime session to give Union a 20-17 win at St. Lawrence's Leckonby Stadium Saturday. The Dutchmen remained the only undefeated team in the Liberty League, now at 4-0, and are 5-1 overall.
Chris Coney rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns for the Dutchmen.
St. Lawrence (2-4, 1-2) ran the ball for a season-high 265 yards against a stingy Union defense and forced five turnovers. Senior tailback Connor Hackett scored both touchdowns for the Scarlet and Brown, bringing his career total to 26 which tied the University career touchdown record.
Coney had his second straight 100 yard rushing week and the junior now has 11 in his career.
Union took a 7-0 lead into halftime in a low-scoring first 30:00 minutes of football. Neither quarterback, JP Kearney for St. Lawrence nor Drew Connolly for Union, was able to get into a rhythm against two swarming defenses. Kearney was 4-of-14 passing in the first half, while Connolly was 4-of-15 with an interception.
The majority of the offense in the first half went St. Lawrence's way, as they gained 164 yards on the ground. Despite moving the football between the 20's, they were unable to come away with any points as first-year student Christopher Dris missed wide left from both 41 and 25 yards in the opening quarter.
The Dutchmen finally took the lead after an 8-play, 57 yard drive that covered 3:33 led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Coney. The key play during the drive was a 4th-and-7 completion from Connolly to Gallo for 28 yards that set the visitors up at the St. Lawrence 8-yard marker. After Coney nearly scored on 1st down, he scored from one yard out to put his team ahead 6-0 at 4:35 of the second quarter. Zach Epley added the extra point for a 7-0 lead, which proved to be the only points of the first half.
Junior linebacker Ben Cryts sparked his team on Union's opening drive of the second half. The Derry, NH native intercepted Connolly at the Union 39-yard line and returned the ball 20 yards to get his team's offense in the red zone. From there, Hackett got the job done including a 15-yard touchdown run that saw him carry two defenders the final five yards to get across the goal line. Hackett's fifth score of the season came only 3:07 into the third quarter, and was followed by Dris' extra point to tie the score at 7-7.
The St. Lawrence defense continued to bottle up the Dutchmen as the visitors were forced to punt thanks to a huge sack by senior captain Gerard Bryant. However, sophomore Trevor Saunders muffed the kick and the fumble was recovered by Union at the St. Lawrence 22-yard line. Again, the defense stood its ground and held their opponents to a 32-yard field goal try by Epley that sailed wide left.
The defensive stand fired up both the Saints' sideline and the offense, which took the field and marched 80 yards in eight plays to give the home team its first lead at 14-7. Sophomores Marcus Washington and Ramon Mignott got quality yardage out of the backfield before Hackett broke off a run for 27 yards out to the Union 30-yard line. The rushing plays set up play-action, as Kearney delivered a strike to sophomore Ethan Sutton down to the visitor's 1-yard line. Hackett rumbled in on the next play to tie the University touchdown record and give his team a 13-7 lead with 4:22 left in the third quarter. Dris added the extra point for a 14-7 cushion.
Neither St. Lawrence nor Union was able to earn a first down on their opening drives of the fourth quarter, though the Saints tipped the field position in their favor and pinned Union on its own 22-yard line with 9:09 left in regulation. On 2nd down-and-10, Connolly's pass over the middle appeared to be intercepted by Saunders, but the officials ruled the ball had hit the ground. On the next play, Connolly found Jared Gourrier for 16 yards to keep the drive alive. He then hooked up with Connor Gallo over the top for a 56-yard back-breaker that set Union up at the 6-yard line. Coney would score from there, with Epley's extra point tying the game at 14-14 with 8:06 to play in the fourth.
Both teams would have chances in the final 8:00 minutes to win the game in regulation, but the defenses were able to make key plays to force overtime.
Union won the coin toss to begin overtime and elected to play defense first. The visitor's defensive unit forced Kearney to take an intentional grounding penalty that set the Saints back, but two completions moved the home team back into field goal range for Dris. The New Port Richey, FL native drilled a 39-yard kick to give his team the lead back at 17-14 with Union's offensive possession still to come.
Starting at the 25-yard line, Union turned to Coney who delivered a big 19-yard run on first down up the middle to the 6-yard line. The Saints responded by drilling Coney and Connolly on consecutive running plays to force an all-important 3rd down-and-goal try from the 5. The Dutchmen opted to go to the air, as Connolly threw a perfect fade route to Gallo who out-jumped the defender and hauled in the winning touchdown pass to keep Union unbeaten in the Liberty League, 20-17.
St. Lawrence finished with the advantage in rushing yards (265-129), total offense (371-335) and time of possession (35:41 to 24:19). The Scarlet and Brown were also 7-of-19 on third downs while holding Union to a 2-for-12 mark.
Hackett finished with 121 yards and two scores, while Washington had a career-high 106 yards on 12 carries. Justin Gallo was the game's leading receiver with 101 yards on four receptions, while Sutton finished as the Saints' top receiver with 42 yards. Kearney closed with a 12-for-27 day for 106 yards passing, while Connolly was 10-for-31 for 206 yards, a touchdown and four interceptions.
Cryts led all defensive players with 12 tackles in the game including 3.0 for a loss. He also had an interception and two pass break-ups. John Peters, the top tackler in the Liberty League, was the leading tackler for Union, making 11 tackles including a team-high six solo stops.
Union takes a break from the league schedule next week when it plays at Salisbury on October 24 at 12 p.m.
