For the first time in program history, the Union Titans are the defending state champions.
But added pressure and larger targets don’t faze the Titans.
In fact, they’re embracing it.
“Everybody is looking at us,” free safety and receiver Daron Ulrich, Jr. said.
Winning football state titles might be new for Union, but isn’t for fourth-year coach Rory Rosenbach. He won two Oregon 3A titles at Eugene’s Marist Catholic, and what he’s telling his team, as a defending state champion, is simple: last year is last year. Go set your own legacy.
“Your story,” the coach said, “is just getting started.”
What the Titans know is the road won’t be easy. State titles seem to make already-large targets widen, and they saw it as early as this summer. From scrimmages to team camps, teams wanted a piece of the Titans.
Expect nothing less for 2019.
“Everyone is going to give us their best each and every game,” Ulrich said.
Make no mistake: this isn’t the same Union team that went undefeated winning the school’s first football state championship behind 14 all-league departed seniors. On its way to winning its first state championship, Union won five games by seven or fewer points and the defense went through a five-game stretch allowing just two second-half touchdowns.
