Running game, defense powers Academy Park to comeback at Unionville

EAST MARLBOROUGH >> When told Friday evening what he had accomplished running the football, Academy Park’s Terrence Oliver was in disbelief.

With eyes wide and mouth agape, Oliver processed that he had just gained 204 of his 246 rushing yards in the second half, which was a major determining factor as the visiting Knights storm from behind to surge past Unionville, 28-13, in District 1 5A Second Round Playoff action.  

“The line did real good,” said Oliver, junior runner who started the season as Academy Park’s No. 3 running back. “They made me look good, but I guess I also made them look good.”

With 10 runs of 10-yards or more in the second half alone, Oliver spearheaded the Knights comeback that featured 28 unanswered points, erasing a 13-0 halftime deficit in the process.   

“Being down 13 at the half, I never would have thought that,” said Academy Park head coach Jason Vosheski. “I was pleasantly surprised how our kids came out in the second half.”

Now 9-2 overall, the sixth-seeded Knights advance to the district’s sweet 16 and will take on the winner of (2) Strath Haven and (7) Marple-Newtown next weekend. Unionville’s season ends with a 10-2 mark.

“This is a week in the state playoffs where good teams go home,” said Longhorns’ head coach Pat Clark. “That’s the reality of the playoffs. It wasn’t from a lack of effort from our side.

“The immediacy of it is that we lost, and it stinks. I feel bad really bad for our seniors. But when you look at the big picture, we had a very good first half. They just hit a few more chunk plays in the second half, and that was the difference.”

Academy Park also clamped down defensively, limiting Unionville to just 64 (of 218 total) in the second half. Senior end Abe Sanogo notched two sacks and had another tackle for loss for the Knights.

“I didn’t want this to be my last game,” Sanoga said. “Everybody came out in the second half with energy and played ball – that’s why I love my team.”

The game turned dramatically on the first possession of the third quarter when Oliver carried the ball five times for all 66 yards, including a 14-yard run to the end zone. And when senior Eric Willis ran it in for a two-point conversion, Academy Park only trailed 13-8.

Late in the third, the Knights seized the lead for good when Willis scored on a keeper from the wildcat formation on fourth-and-five from the Unionville 15. And then in the final period, Willis culminated a pair of scoring drives with runs of 11- and 15-yards. Oliver ripped off a 42-yard run to set up the first, and the second came after the Academy Park defense forced a turnover on downs deep in Longhorns’ territory.

Willis chipped in with 66 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the Knights ran for 309 total yards. Oliver toted the football a total of 30 times, including 22 in the second half.

“We knew we were going to have to contend with (Academy Park’s) skilled kids, and that turned out to be the difference,” Clark said.

“(Oliver) has been very productive for us when he’s gotten carries,” Vosheski explained. “Earlier in the season we went with (Abe Sanogo at running back) and then we went with Joseph Davis, who got injured last week.

“Since he got his chance, Terrence has been playing great. We were just running our offense. He ran extremely hard so we just kept with it.”

When you have two teams that prefer to control the football on the ground, it wound up being a lightning quick first half as both teams, essentially, had two possessions each. The Longhorns used the two to maximum effect, going 65-yards in 13-plays and 89-yards in six plays. The Knights countered with one lengthy drive, but turned it over on downs at the Unionville 11.

“In the first half we moved the football but we didn’t score,” Vosheski said. “And defensively, we were misaligned a bunch and (Unionville) took advantage. In the second half, we just fixed those things.”

The ’Horn first ate up nearly seven minutes in the early going and the march ended with Brendan D’Amico bulling in from the one. And then in the second quarter, D’Amico converted a fourth-and-1 inside the Academy Park 10, and then on the next play quarterback Matt McCloskey’s shovel pass to senior tight end Ryan Knightly wound up in the end zone. It wound up being Unionville’s final score.

“In the second half we just couldn’t get the momentum back,” Clark said.

It was easily a career night for Oliver.

“My season started with me getting no (playing) time, but then we has some injuries and that’s when I started playing and it all started to click,” he said.

“I’ve never had a game like this. But coming from being the third back, to the second back, and now I am at the one. It feels good.”

Academy Park                                 0 0 14 14 — 28

Unionville                                         6 7 0 0 — 13

Scoring

U – B. D’Amico 1 run (run failed)

U – Knightly 5 pass from McCloskey (Dym kick)

AP – Oliver 14 run (Willis run)

AP – Willis 15 run (run failed)

AP – Willis 11 run (kick blocked)

Team totals                                      AP  U

First downs                                      18  12

Yards rushing                                  309  100

Yards passing                                   39  118

Total yards                                       348  218

Passing                                              4-13-0  11-18-2

Fumbles-lost                                    2-1  2-1

Punts-ave                                         1-21  1-38

Penalties-yds                                   5-40  3-15

Individual statistics

Rushing – AP: Oliver 30-246, TD; Willis 8-66, 3 TDs; Greenwood 1–(-4); Fields 2(-1); Sanoga 1-2. U: McCloskey 18-46; Bennink 3-1; King 7-48; B. D’Amico 3-5, TD.

Passing – AP: Fields 4-13-0, 39 yards. U: McCloskey 11-18-2, 118 yards, TD.

Receiving – AP: Willis 3-38; Greenwod 1-1. U: Carello 1-19; Knightly 3-27, TD; Holt 2-11; Schriver 5-57.

Sacks – AP: Sanoga 2, Sammons. U: Holt.

Interceptions – AP: Hunter, Willis.