UNITED TAKES THE STING OUT OF THE HORNETS
HANOVERTON OH- United came into week 2 ready for a fast start against their opponents from East Canton. The offense for Eagles would take flight early and often on their way to a dominating 55-21 win Friday night in Hanoverton.
The United defense put their stamp on things early recovering a fumble after a strip sack on East Canton’s first drive giving the United offense an early opportunity. Luke Courtney wasted no time as he would find Grant Knight for a 9 yard touchdown putting the Eagles ahead 7-0. East Canton answered the Eagles score with an impressive drive resulting in a 34 yard QB scamper to tie the game at 7-7. That would be as close as the Hornets would come the entire evening as the United offense was cleared for takeoff. Luke Courtney once again would find Grant Knight for the second time in opening stanza this time from 23 yards out making it 14-7. The 2nd quarter was much of the same for the duo. Following another East Canton turnover Courtney would connect once again with Knight on a 40 yard scoring strike giving the tandem the hat trick in the first half and a United 21-7 lead.
The Eagles defense would force a 3 and out followed by a shanked punt setting the stage once a gain for an aerial attack by United. Courtney on the very next play would find his man Knight in the middle of the field and the talented wide receiver would do the rest taking it 61 yards to pay dirt for the 4th time of the first half and a 28-0 lead. Knight would finish the evening with 9 catches 171 yards and 4 touchdowns. United on the next possession put together an impressive drive just before halftime capped off by an Andrew Ogilvie 4 yard rushing touchdown.
Following an East Canton score Luke Courtney decided he was not finished adding to his stat line as he found Brock Rhoades on a 4 yard touchdown pass making it 41-14. Courtney would finish his impressive evening connecting on 24 of his 32 passes for 357 yards and 5 touchdowns. Nick Hardgrove also was huge benefactor of the Eagle aerial attack collecting 8 catches for 148 yards. It was not a catch by Hardgrove however that had the United crowd standing. Following a late touchdown by East Canton making the score 48-21, the senior wideout Hardgrove would collect the very next kickoff and scamper down the sidelines 77 yards to the house making it 55-21.
United now sitting at 2-0 on the young season sets their sights on a familiar face of yester year as the Eagles travel to Crestview for an important week 3 matchup.
*Contributed By YSN’s Chris Sigler
