The 1-0 Unionville Indians played host to the Academy Park Knights this past Friday; what was predicted to be competitive game turned into an all-out frenzy.
Unionville trailed defending district champions, Academy Park 20-9 with only 2:58 left in the fourth quarter. The players, the coaches. and the student section looked depleted as the game was all but over. After a promising squib quick, Unionvile QB Alex Gorgone dissected the Knights’ passing defense finding Jack Adams, J.T. However and eventually Joe Zubillaga with a twenty-yard score followed by a failed 2-point conversion, making the score 20-15.
Although the quick drive brought hope, everyone in the stadium knew Academy Park just had to run the clock down to seal the victory. After an unsuccessful onside kick, the Knights began their final drive at the Unionville 47 yard line. Academy Park QB Skylor Fillis broke out of the pocket for an eight yard run(which could of been a touchdown if the official had not bumped into him), and what seemed like a dagger. However, as he was being tackled, Unionville safety Aidan Boyle poked the ball out giving the Indians first down on their own 39 yard line.
The student section, fueled by Boyle’s heroic play, went absolutely ballistic. The chance of victory become a definite possibility despite having only 1:34 on the clock to drive 61 yards down the field. The momentum was on Unionville’s side and their offense needed to capitalize, and they did just that. On the first play off the drive, Gorgone rolled right and threw an amazing crossbody throw to WR Nick Schnaars; reminiscent of Carson Palmer’s throw to Larry Fitzgerald in the 2016 NFC semifinal. Gorgone’s spectacular play put the Indians on Academy Park’s 28 yard line with 1:00 remaining. After a series of failed run attempts, Gorgone found Zubillaga again with a touchdown and a successful two point conversion to give Unionville the 23-20 lead with 23.3 seconds remaining.
Academy Park’s final rally proved unsuccessful with J.T. Hower intercepting Fillis to cement the miraculous comeback by Unionville.
Unionville’s remaining schedule is fairly easy with the only difficult opponent being Downingtown East,therefore making the Indians an exciting and dynamic team that should be a playoff threat.
Just The Phacts 