Union Parish crushes Richwood 30-0

The Union Parish Farmers’ senior quarterback Chase Spatafora rushed for two touchdowns, passed for another two touchdowns and kicked a 31-yard field goal to lead Union Parish (2-4,1-0) to a 30-0 District 2-3A victory over the Richwood Rams (0-6, 0-1) at Richwood’s Mackie Freeze Stadium on Friday.

Both teams struggled to mount any offense in the first quarter as each team failed to score.

Early in the second quarter, Union Parish was able to mount a drive thanks to back-to-back end around plays that netted 46 yards. With 10:06 remaining in the first half, Spatafora found junior receiver Nijeel Meeking for a 17-yard swing pass as the Farmers took the early 7-0 lead following Spatafora extra point kick.

Richwood was able to drive the ball from its 3-yard line down to the Union Parish 18-yard line where the Rams faced a fourth-and-2.Unfortunately for Richwood, a bad snap over sophomore quarterback Zion Stokes’ head put the Farmers in position for a drive before the half.

From there, Spatafora exploded for a 51-yard run to give Union Parish a first down at the Richwood 10-yard line. Several plays later, Spatafora called his own number as the senior scored on a 10-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds remaining in the first half. Spatafora was successful on the extra point to give Union Parish the 14-0 advantage at the half.

The third quarter saw a back-and-forth struggle between both opposing defenses. Richwood’s punter Basheen Hutcherson was able to get off a 48-yard punt, but the Rams were not able to down the ball as the ball bounced into the end zone to give Union Parish the ball on its 20-yard line.

The first play of the Union Parish ensuing drive, Chase Spatafora held the ball on a quarterback keeper and ran around the left end for an 80-yard touchdown. Richwood blocked the extra point so the score stood at 20-0 in favor of the Farmers with 1:37 remaining in the third quarter.

Union Parish was able to score 10 points in the final frame when Spatafora found Meeking for an 8-yard touchdown and Spatafora kicked a 31-yard field goal to round out the scoring.

On the evening, Spatafora rushed for 146 yards on five carries with two touchdowns while completing 3 of 5 passes for 33 yards and two touchdowns. Teddy Allen lead the Richwood Rams in rushing with 11 carries for 74-yards.

Next week, Richwood will travel north up U.S. 165 for a District 2-3A visit with the Carroll Bulldogs at Carroll’s Thomas Blade Memorial Stadium while Union Parish will take to the road to face the Wossman Wildcats at Wossman’s Grady Jones Memorial Stadium next Friday at 7 p.m.