John Bruce, Contributor
CHILLICOTHE — Behind their seniors on Senior Night, the Unioto Shermans earned their first comfortable victory of the season on Friday, a 36-6 victory over Southeastern.
CREDIT: Madison Greenwalt/SOSA
With four of its five touchdowns scored by seniors, Unioto (3-2) was able to respond to an early Panther touchdown to win going away.
Southeastern (1-4) started the scoring with a 59-yard touchdown pass from Clay Morgan to Brandon Maldonado on the second play from scrimmage.
But, after that play, it was all Shermans.
On Unioto’s first play from scrimmage, Isaac Little connected with DC Dailey for a 49-yard touchdown and following Lucas Hanes’ PAT, the Tanks never looked back.
“Tonight was good for our program,” Unioto coach Matt Hoops commented after the victory. “We gave up a big play on their second play, but we got that cleaned up and were solid the rest of the night. It was nice to score on our first play to kind of settle us down and answer their score.”
The Shermans scored on their next possession, with Little scoring from six yards out. The drive was set up by another Little to Dailey 49-yard pass, this time on 3rd and 15. Carter Wisecup, who missed last week’s game due to injury, made his presence known on the Panthers’ next play. Wisecup blew up a play in the backfield, forcing a fumble that Ryan Gibson-Mallory recovered.
Little scored two plays later, this time from 16 yards out on a nice cutback run.
“We did a nice job on offense of finishing drives,” Hoops added. “That’s something that we have struggled on a little bit lately. Scoring on three of our first four drives was certainly a positive.”
Unioto put the game away early in the second half, with back-to-back scoring drives in the third quarter. Freshman Quinlan Netter scored on a three-yard rush before Little connected with Byrd Green for a seven-yard pass to close out the night’s scoring.
Little seemed to be back to his old self on Friday, rushing for 102 yards on 10 carries and throwing for 171 yards, while contributing four scores in total.
“When Ike is healthy, he’s able to do a lot of nice things for us,” Hoops said of his quarterback. “I think he showed that tonight with close to 300 total yards of offense. He’s a competitor and makes a lot of things happen for us.”
Southeastern was led offensively by Mikey Nusser, who ended the night with 131 yards rushing on 15 carries. Jarrett McWhorter added 114 yards on 21 totes.
Dailey had two snags for 98 yards to lead Unioto, while Maddox Fox had four catches for 61 yards. Josh Rose had 25 yards rushing down the stretch for the Tanks and Emily Hanes nailed her second PAT of the season.
“It was nice to send those 14 seniors out with a win,” Hoops said. “They were able to all get on the field and contribute tonight.”
Stats
| Southeastern | Unioto | |
| 47 – 263 | Rushes – Yardage | 30 – 175 |
| 1-10-59-1-1 | Comp – Attempts – Yards – Touchdowns – Interceptions | 10-21-171-2-1 |
| 10 – 65 | Penalties – Yardage | 6 – 40 |
| 2 (1 fumble) | Turnovers | 2 (1 fumble) |
| 58 – 322 | Plays – Yardage | 51 – 356 |
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
10:33 – SE – Morgan to Maldonaldo 59 yard pass (run failed) 6-0 SE
10:16 – U – Little to Dailey 49 yard pass (L. Hanes kick) 7-6 U
2nd Quarter
11:19 – U – Little 6 yard run (kick blocked) 13-6
10:55 – U – Little 16 yard run (L. Hanes kick) 20-6
3rd Quarter
9:47 – U – Netter 3 yard run (L. Hanes kick) 27-6
1:32 – U – Little to Green 7 yard pass (E. Hanes kick) 34-6
4th Quarter
4:37 – U – Safety 36-6