MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – Junior
Luke Sheehan threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns as the Union College football team scored the final 31 points of the game to charge past SUNY Morrisville by a 38-17 score in the team's non-conference finale on Saturday afternoon at Drake Field.
Sheehan was an efficient 17-of-29 passing in his second collegiate start, and showed some big play ability with touchdown passes of 51 yards and 47 yards in the fourth quarter for Union (1-2). Sophomores
Evan Anderson and
Kaden Gore caught the two long touchdowns and finished with 63 and 58 yards receiving, respectively, while senior
Owen Corrigan added a TD catch of his own. Sophomore
Brady Markowski got the start at running back and responded with a big effort, rushing 21 times for 99 yards and a score.
Union locked down SUNY Morrisville (1-2) defensively in the second half, allowing just 53 yards on the Mustangs' final eight drives of the game. Three Garnet Chargers had interceptions on the day, highlighted by senior
Daniel O'Leary's 32-yard pick-six that finished off the scoring. Senior
Jordan Black added a strip-sack and senior
Dwayne Hinds led the team with eight tackles as part of a well-rounded defensive effort.
Sheehan and Markowski helped lead Union down the field to a score on the game's opening drive, moving 60 yards on nine plays. Markowski rushed for 19 yards – more than he amassed all of last season – on the drive, while Sheehan went 4-for-4 through the air and capped the drive with a three-yard connection with Corrigan, who ripped the ball away from a defensive back for the score.
An interception in the end zone by sophomore
Harrison Hinckle staved off a Morrisville threat on the home team's second drive of the game, but a three-and-out gave the ball right back to the Mustangs and Morrisville scored its first touchdown to get within a point at 7-6 at the half. The Mustangs then scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to take a 17-7 lead, helped by a Union fumble that gave the home team excellent field position on their second drive.
But the momentum switched again late in the third quarter, as Union put up 10 points in less than two minutes. A five-minute drive resulted in a 25-yard field goal by first-year
Ben Stark to get back within a possession with just over two minutes left, and Black had a strip-sack on the next possession that was recovered by sophomore
Myles Beckett and returned to the 21-yard line. Markowski was in the end zone for the first time in his career just three plays later, as he ran for all 21 yards to even the score at 17.
After the defense forced back-to-back three-and-outs, Union struck quickly for the go-ahead score on a 51-yard connection over the top of the defense between Sheehan and Anderson. Another three-and-out gave the ball right back to the offense and another big play followed, this time a 47-yard strike to Gore that made it a two-score game with under five minutes left. The defense ended the game emphatically with a turnover on downs, O'Leary's first collegiate touchdown on a pick-six, and an interception by sophomore
Terrence Hanratty to close out the win.
Union will return home next Saturday to begin Liberty League play with a 1 p.m. matchup against Buffalo State University.
