CANTON, N.Y. – The Union College football team picked up its third-straight victory with a 49-7 win over St. Lawrence University in Liberty League action on Friday night at SLU's Leckonby Stadium.
Union (3-2, 2-0 Liberty League) accumulated 429 yards of offense and averaged 7.66 yards per play in the victory. Junior
Luke Sheehan completed 14-of-20 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns and also led the team with 62 rushing yards and a score, while junior
Jah'Cire Jones and sophomore
Justin Singh both ran for a touchdown each as well.
Union wasted no time finding the scoreboard on their first possession, needing a single play to go 95 yards. After a punt pinned the Garnet Chargers on their own five-yard line, Sheehan stood in his end zone and dumped off a screen pass to sophomore
Brady Markowski, who made a couple moves and took the ball all the way to the endzone.
The visitors used three chunk plays in a row to find pay dirt on the first possession of the second quarter. Sheehan somehow escaped a sack and ran for 18 yards to get near midfield, and then sophomore wideout
Evan Anderson tossed a 29-yard pass to senior
Gil Rivera to get inside the 25-yard line. On the next play, Sheehan found sophomore
Kaden Gore at the goal line for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead less than two minutes into the second.
Special teams led to a short field on the next possession, as senior
Michael Dinardo blocked a punt to give Union the ball at the 35-yard line. After four straight runs by Jones got Union inside the 10-yard line, Sheehan took it himself the final six yards for the score, putting the visitors up 19.
Two penalties and a sack by sophomore
Caleb Altidor helped give the visitors another short field on the next drive, which eventually resulted in the first collegiate field goal for first-year
Owen Sanderson from 28 yards out and a 22-0 lead. Following a three-and-out, Union needed only four plays to go 50 yards for another score, with all the yardage coming on a 17-yard pass from Sheehan to senior
Gil Rivera and a 33-yard touchdown strike to senior
Owen Corrigan.
St. Lawrence (1-4, 0-2 Liberty League) ended the shutout bid on their first drive of the third quarter, but the Garnet Chargers responded with a six-play, 55-yard touchdown drive of their own, capped by a one-yard touchdown plunge by sophomore
Justin Singh.
After a sack by Altidor that was recovered by senior
Alex Cushing and returned to the SLU 41-yard line, Union was back in the endzone eight plays later on a five-yard touchdown run by Jones.
First-year
Kaden Faniel put an exclamation point on the win with his first career interception, which he returned 42 yards for a touchdown. The pick-six is Union's Division III-leading fourth defensive score in five games this season.
Senior
Dwayne Hinds led the defensive effort with a team-leading eight tackles, while Altidor had two sacks as part of a five-sack effort for the visitors.
Union will look to keep rolling next Saturday, when the team travels to Hobart College for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the Statesmen.
