ABINGDON — For the first time since James Mitchell’s senior year in 2017, Union has clinched the outright Mountain 7 District football championship.
Behind one of the better offensive outputs in some time, the Bears (8-1, 5-0) mauled Abingdon 37-20 on Friday at Falcon Stadium.
The Big Stone Gap crew racked up 496 yards of offense — 324 on the ground — and punted just twice while tallying 23 first downs.
“We knew coming in that this was going to be a challenge,” Union coach Travis Turner said. “We challenged our guys from the start, even though we didn’t get points on that opening drive. I thought we overcame that. I thought Keith Chandler and Poppy Lowery ran the ball great behind the offensive line.”
Union senior quarterback Reyshawn Anderson was 8-of-16 passing with 172 yards and a touchdown to Kam Bostic in the third quarter. Anderson also ran for 96 yards on 17 attempts and two scores.
When Union needed a big play in the passing game, it seemed the post pattern over the middle to either Bostic or Paul Huff was wide open. Bostic finished with four catches for 68 yards and Huff racked up 84 yards on three catches.
Keith Chandler led Union’s rushing attack with 138 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown.
“We’ve repped the passing game a lot during practice this week,” Reyshawn Anderson said. “I grew up with (Bostic and Huff) and they’re like little brothers to me, so I’m glad to see them out here making plays that I always knew that they could make.”
Union’s “Monsters of the Greenway” defense forced two interceptions — by Bostic and Keyshawn Anderson — and held Abingdon (5-4, 3-2) to 173 yards of offense.
Falcons junior running back Owen Barr had 144 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Quarterback Luke Honaker, who took a kickoff back 72 yards for a touchdown with 4:10 left, was sacked four times.
Two Union late scores — a 31-yard score by Chandler with 10 minutes left and a Will “Poppy” Lowery 55-yard scamper with 4:23 to go — put the finishing touches on the scoring. Lowery finished with 89 yards on 11 carries.
A pair of sacks by Brent Lovell and Brayden Mosier on Abingdon’s final two drives put the nail in the coffin.
“Those were two seniors stepping up and making big plays for us on defense in a tight situation,” Turner said. “We knew they had some size and they were bigger than us, but our speed took over the game.
“It feels good to win a district title because it’s been a few years since we’ve had one. The kids have worked hard all seniors and this means a lot to these seniors that are going to graduate to go out as district champs.”
FIRST-HALF SCORING
After a stalemate in the first quarter, Abingdon opened up the scoring in the second.
The Bears punted on their second drive of the game and Abingdon’s first play of the ensuing drive, Barr busted loose on the far side and went 79 yards for the score with 10:33 left in the first half.
“Our defense was lined up correctly and they caught us,” Turner said. “For (Barr) to go from wide receiver to running back, he’s pretty good.”
Union responded rather quickly, Reyshawn Anderson cutting loose for a 44-yard score. Braxton Bunch bobbled the snap on the extra-point attempt but turned a negative into a positive by making the 2-point conversion on a run with 7:43 left in the second quarter.
On the Falcons’ next drive, Honaker threw an interception right to Keyshawn Anderson, who returned it to the Abingdon 39.
Union capitalized. Reyshawn Anderson scored with no time left on a free play after Abingdon had an offsides penalty on the last play from scrimmage. Anderson completed a pass to Bunch for another 2-point conversion to give Union a 16-7 lead at the break.
“That 2-point conversion to end the first half was huge,” Turner said. “We’re happy to have all those sophomores around for a couple more years.”
UP NEXT
Abingdon goes to Lee High next week to close out the regular season. Union celebrates Senior Night at Bullitt Park against John S. Battle.
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