UNION LOOKS TO BUILD ON OPENING WIN

Saturday’s 26-15 win over Broken Arrow should prepare Union well for its next opponent, perennial Texas power Euless Trinity. “It was kind of a grind,” Union coach Kirk Fridrich said. “The heat kind of got to us in the second half. It wasn’t flashy or special about the way the game went, but we were able to play a tough physical football game.” And Fridrich expects more of the same on Friday when the defending Class 6AI state champion Redskins host Euless Trinity at 7 p.m. at Union-Tuttle Stadium. Euless Trinity won three state titles in the previous decade and defeated Broken Arrow 39-16 last year. “Their offensive line will be bigger than the Dallas Cowboys,” Fridrich said. “That’s something about Trinity we’ll definitely take notice of — they are a very physical football team. “I’m excited to see what we can do and how we’ll prepare this week.” The Redskins remain No. 1 in the Tulsa World’s first in-season 6AI rankings. Broken Arrow stays at No. 3 while Owasso jumps four slots to No. 2 after Friday’s 48-10 win over Jenks, which falls three spots to No. 5. “I got to watch it,” Fridrich said about two opponents Union will face in September. “First of all, it was fun to see high school football going on a Friday night, (and) I got to watch somebody else play. “I was really proud of Owasso. I coached there before, and proud of some of those coaches there that I know. I thought they executed very well and they will definitely make it interesting.” Fridrich said Union’s inexperience showed against Broken Arrow, but he also saw a lot of positives. “You could tell at times we only had four returning starters on defense and four on offense,” Fridrich said “Our two returning starters on the offensive line understood what was going on and everyone else was kind of feeling their way. “I thought we were effective early offensively and credit Broken Arrow for adjusting. As the game wore on it became more of a grind. I thought we got impatient offensively and defensively.” Peyton Thompson, a junior transfer from Broken Arrow in his first varsity start, completed 19 of 28 passes for 188 yards in his Union debut. “I thought our quarterback stood in there and made some real nice throws,” Fridrich said. “I was proud of him. To me, he definitely executed our offense.” Union led 17-0 in the second quarter before Alex Davis’ pass on a fake punt was incomplete and the Tigers got back in the game. “A coaching mistake on the punt, we weren’t supposed to run it,” Fridrich said. “But they gave us a look that we checked to an automatic, and we should have told him not to run it. That’s on us.” Union’s defense held Broken Arrow to 199 yards. “We came out and got the job done,” linebacker Braden Spicer said. “We had a great game plan coming in against them and we played well.” Spicer, who attended Friday’s Owasso-Jenks game, appreciated getting a chance to be seen on Saturday’s ESPN telecast from Broken Arrow. “It was a once in a lifetime experience,” Spicer said. “It was something to be excited about, but just had to treat it like another game.”

UNION LOOKS TO BUILD ON OPENING WIN

Photo Credit: Cory Young

Contact Us