By Joshua Yoder

MOUNT UNION – To say that both teams left all out on the field is an incredible understatement. It went down to the wire and ultimately it was the Mount Union Trojans who were victorious as they defeated the Juniata Valley Hornets by the final score of 29-21 during a ICC football game Friday night.

The Hornets scored the only touchdown of the opening quarter and with 4:30 remaining, Andrew Clark muscled his way into the endzone for a one yard run.

Mount Union eventually responded early on in the second quarter as the Trojans  scored on a reverse from Caizon Scott that went 17 yards to tie the game at seven apiece.

However, later in the quarter, Nasir Collins was able to find his way in for a two yard touchdown run. Unfortunately, the extra point had failed, making it a 13-7 Mount Union lead at the break.

The Hornets came out the gate swinging during the third quarter displaying a ton of power football in their opening possession that was finished off by a 24 yard run by Clark before an extra point gave them a 14-13 lead.

A little while later, quarterback Jett Rand found wide receiver Gavin Smith for a seven yard touchdown reception to extend the Juniata Valley lead to 21-13.

But the Trojans refused to quit as time had expired to end the third quarter, Collins again made his presence felt going 25 yards to the house and then scored the two point conversion to tie the game at 21.

Throughout the fourth quarter, both Juniata Valley and Mount Union struggled to get some momentum offensively. It wasn’t until late when the Trojans began to mount a drive, but once again things seem to be stalling. With it being fourth and six, Collins was scrambling around the pocket and threw up a prayer that fell into the hands of freshmen receiver Damien Leonard that went 20 yards for the first down.

That set up a 26 yard run into the endzone by Collins which ended up being the game winner. Not to mention the extra point attempt was messed up which forced Collins to move around again but then found Ty’Jeir Hooper to complete the two point pass to make it 29-21.

Collins led the way for the Trojans in both rushing and passing. On the ground, Collins had 33 carries for 254 yards and four touchdowns. In the air, Collins was 8-13 for 139 yards. In fact, Collins has reached over a thousand yards for the season on the ground.

For the Hornets, running back Clark had 23 carries for a grand total of 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Meanwhile quarterback Rand went 13-24 in the air for 196 yards and two touchdown passes.

Mount Union moves to (6-1) and will hit the road next week as the Trojans will face Southern Huntingdon.

While Juniata Valley (5-2) looks to get back into the win column as the Hornets travel to Curwensville.

At this time I would like to send a prayer out to Rahmeir Smith of Mount Union who was injured during the game and taken to the hospital. My thoughts and prayers are to him and his family and I pray for a positive outcome for him.

Until Next Time!