Union quickly leaves losing streak behind

The Union football team wanted to leave two consecutive losses in its dust.

To do that, the Titans picked up the tempo.

After a week of fast-paced, high energy practices, Union is back in the win column. The Titans rolled over Heritage 56-7 on Friday at McKenzie Stadium, bouncing back from the program’s first consecutive losses since 2016.

“We went hard in practice all week and came out with a new energy that we haven’t seen all year,” senior captain Jack Eggleston said. “I hope it’s good for us and we can turn this around.”

Union (4-3, 1-1) rolled up 49 unanswered points in the first half of Friday’s 4A Greater St. Helens League game.

Not long after kickoff, last week’s 30-3 loss to Skyview and a prior 42-41 defeat to Puyallup were distant memories.

“After two losses in a row we were really looking for something to boost up forward and give us more confidence,” senior lineman Rocky Mataia said. “This game really did it for us.”

Mataia scored the game’s first touchdown on just his second high school carry, a 1-yard run out of Union’s jumbo “Hercules” package.

From there, the rout was on. Quarterback CJ Jordan threw for 330 yards, all the first half. Eggleston, Jake Bowen, Maliki Campbell and Tobias Merriweather all hauled in first-half touchdown catches.

Heritage (2-5, 0-3) was held to 146 yards of total offense.

Key moments

Midway through the first quarter, Union was already well on its way to victory. CJ Jordan’s freewheeling style Friday was on full display on Union’s third TD. The quarterback escaped the pocket and threw a high arcing pass 34 yards. Maliki Campbell outleapt a defender in the end zone for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead.

All facets played a role in Union’s dominance, including special teams. Union took a 35-0 lead in the second quarter when a botched snap led to Heritage’s punter attempting a pass. Aidan Hoyt intercepted the pass and returned 31 yards for a touchdown.

Key players

CJ Jordan had a half to remember. The Union quarterback completed 14 of 19 passes for 330 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions before giving way to backup Alex Gehrmann at halftime. Ten of his completions went for 20 yards or more. He also rushed for 14 yards, including a four-yard touchdown.

Jack Eggleston was a go-to option over the middle for the Titans. The tight end had a team-high five catches for 99 yards and one touchdown. He had catches of 24 and 39 yards on back to back plays to set up Union’s fourth touchdown.

Tobias Merriweather only had three catches, but he made them count. The sophomore receiver had 104 receiving yards, including a diving 20-yard touchdown grab in the back of the end zone.

Quotable

“It was such a big crazy feeling for me. I think I’m going to have to transfer to a (halfback) now.” Rocky Mataia, Union senior lineman who scored his first high school touchdown on a 1-yard run.

UNION 56, HERITAGE 7

Heritage 0 0 0 7–7

Union 21 28 7 0–56

First quarter

U–Rocky Mataia 1 run (Sonny Pitts kick)

U–Jake Bowen 20 pass from CJ Jordan (Pitts kick)

U–Maliki Campbell 34 pass from Jordan (Pitts kick)

Second quarter

U–Jordan 4 run (Pitts kick)

U–Aidan Hoyt 31 interception return (Pitts kick)

U–Tobias Merriweather 20 pass from Jordan (Pitts kick)

U–Jack Eggleston 1 pass from Jordan (Pitts kick)

Third quarter

U–Campbell 22 pass from Alex Gehrmann (Pitts kick)

Fourth quarter

H–Nikki Scott 1 run (Israel Gonzalez kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Heritage: Isaac Roa 7-15, Nickelson Datel 4-41, Anthony Kee 6-37, Andre Cowley 14-55, Nikki Scott 4-(-24). Union: Isaiah Jones 4-13, Rocky Mataia 2-4, CJ Jordan 2-14, Vinh Luong 2-2, Julius Jones 8-30, Aiden Olson 1-4.

PASSING–Heritage: Nikki Scott 4-10-1-22, Jacob Zepeda 0-1-1-0. Union: CJ Jordan 14-19-0-330, Alex Gehrmann 3-5-0-25.

RECEIVING–Heritage: Nickelson Datel 2-4, Kaleb La Mere 1-7, Anthony Kee 1-11. Union: Jake Bowen 3-51, Jack Eggleston 5-99, Tobias Merriweather 3-104, Maliki Campbell 2-56, Liam Boyce 2-42, Anthony Kay 1-(-1), Te’Juan Conde 1-4.