Union turns back Evergreen’s upset bid

Evergreen poised itself to spoil Union’s Homecoming and pull one of the biggest upsets in recent Greater St. Helens 4A play Friday night at McKenzie Stadium.

But every time the Plainsmen pulled closer, the Titans turned to a freshman to pull them out of harm’s way.

JoJo Siofele ran for 230 yards and five touchdowns to help Union survive Evergreen’s upset bid, 42-34.

“That many? I didn’t know,” Siofele said, smiling, when he heard of his totals. “I don’t try to think too much when I’m running the ball. I just see daylight and run to it.”

The Titans (3-2, 1-1) have never lost in eight meetings against the Plainsmen (2-3, 1-2), but Evergreen made Union work for its latest victory in the series.

Siofele’s final touchdown, a 6-yarder with 50.8 seconds left, seemingly clinched the victory, giving Union a 42-26 lead.

After a personal foul penalty gave Evergreen the ball at its 41, freshman Tre Radcliff showed a burst of his own, sprinting 59 yards and just getting inside the right pylon with 16.4 seconds left. The Plainsmen passed for the two-point conversion, and a miracle finish appeared possible.

But the ensuing onside kick attempt sailed straight out of bounds, giving Union the ball back and allowing the rain-soaked crowd a chance to exhale.

“This was a very important win,” Siofele said. “We’d lost two in a row, so we had to come back in attack mode.”

The Plainsmen also considered this a very important loss, albeit a disappointing one given their effort.

“This is most definitely something we can build on,” said senior Dallas Goodpaster, who ran for 63 yards and two touchdowns. “We played a tough game against them, a close game. Just little mistakes cost us.”

Siofele sandwiched a pair of 1-yard TD runs around a 32-yard field goal by Evergreen’s Quentin Petcu to give the Titans a 14-3 after one quarter.

They led 21-13 at halftime, then Siofele produced a highlight-reel 27-yard scoring run 3 minutes into the second half to push the lead to 28-13.

But the Plainsmen refused to go away. Goodpaster scored his second TD on a 1-yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter to draw them within 28-20, setting up a wild fourth quarter in which the teams combined for five touchdowns.

UNION 42, EVERGREEN 34

Evergreen 3 10 0 21 — 34

Union 14 7 7 14 — 42

First Quarter

U — JoJo Siofele 1 run (Connor Culp kick)

E — FG Quentin Petcu 32

U — Siofele 1 run (Culp kick)

Second Quarter

E — Dallas Goodpaster 1 run (Petcu kick)

U — Nate Kuratli 30 pass from Jordan Lawson (Culp kick)

E — FG Petcu 35

Third Quarter

U — Siofele 27 run (Culp kick)

Fourth Quarter

E — Goodpaster 1 run (Petcu kick)

U — Siofele 1 run (Culp kick)

E — Marquis Sampson 24 pass from Peyton Monda (kick failed)

U — Siofele 6 run (Culp kick)

E — Tre Radcliff 59 run (Dustin Nettles pass from Monda)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — E: Goodpaster 12-63, Radcliff 2-86, Nathaniel Trevino 11-94, Sampson 10-38, Monda 3-4, Nettles 1-(minus 2). U: Siofele 25-230, Rey Green 8-40, Adrian Andrade 2-44, Abe Smith 1-14, Lawson 5-(minus 4), team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING — E: Monda 9-17-0-79, Nettles 1-1-0-56. U: Lawson 6-18-2-96, Siofele 1-1-0-30.

RECEIVING — E: Nettles 5-31, Goodpaster 2-11, Sampson 1-24, Trevino 1-13, Jonathan Spiering 1-56. U: Keithen Shepard 4-70, Kuratli 2-45, Kai Gamble 1-11.