HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Union College football team outgained Hilbert College by 300 yards as the Garnet Chargers got back in the win column with a 56-7 victory over the Hawks in a Liberty League matchup on Saturday afternoon at St. Francis High School.
Four quarterbacks combined to throw for 311 yards on the day for Union (4-4, 3-2 Liberty League), led by junior
Luke Sheehan with 238 yards and three touchdowns on 14-of-20 passing. Senior
Cole Brisson also threw a touchdown pass on his lone completion of the day, while junior
Max Cho and senior
Mack McManus combined for 3-for-3 passing as well.
Ten different players caught at least one pass on the afternoon, with sophomore
Jack McCluskey recording a career-high 77 yards and a touchdown on two catches. Senior
Owen Corrigan, sophomore
Kaden Gore and first-year
Peyton Kellett all caught touchdown passes as well.
Sophomore
Brady Markowski led the rushing effort with 68 yards and two touchdowns on just five attempts, while sophomore
Justin Singh (50 yards) and senior
Michael Dinardo (13 yards) also both reached the end zone.
Union reached paydirt on its first four drives of the game, with the four drives taking a total of 14 plays. Markowski scampered 21 yards for the first score of the game less than two minutes in, and Gore caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Sheehan to make it 13-0 midway through the opening frame.
After Hilbert (0-7, 0-6 Liberty League) got on the board on its next drive, Union needed just one play to respond, as Sheehan went deep to Kellett for a 40-yard touchdown to bump the lead back up to 19-7. A quick three-and-out got the Union offense right back on the field, and the Garnet Chargers needed just four plays to go 74 yards, finished off by a McCluskey 37-yard touchdown.
Union started the second half strong with a safety, as senior
Jordan Black tackled Jeremy Ganska in the end zone after the Hawks started their drive at the one-yard line. The visitors then got the ball back on the 35-yard line and four plays later were back in the end zone, this time on a 19-yard Markowski rush.
The Garnet Chargers had another one-play drive later in the third quarter after Hilbert turned the ball over on downs, as Brisson connected on a 51-yard touchdown strike to Corrigan with 4:51 left in the third. Singh capped the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.
Union will return home to Frank Bailey Field for the final time next Saturday for a 1 p.m. Senior Day matchup against the University of Rochester.
