Mount Union defeats West Branch in rout!

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: September 14, 2024

By Joshua Yoder

MOUNT UNION – The Trojans made quick work of their rivals West Branch by the final score of 51-12 Friday night during some ICC football action.

It didn’t take Mount Union very long to get onto the scoreboard as Nasir Collins slipped past the West Branch defense for a 29 yard touchdown run before Josh Ryan collected the two point conversion to give the Trojans a 8-0 lead.

About four minutes later, Collins scored again this time going 24 yards into the endzone to score. Ryan also scored on the two point conversation making it a 16-0.

Then late into the first quarter, the special teams got going as with just 40 seconds remaining, Caizen Scott went 25 yards on a punt return and scored a touchdown. Mason Swanger completed the extra point extending the Trojan lead to 23-0.

During the second quarter, Collins got going again and busted out a 47 yard run to score before another extra point by Swanger to make it a 30- lead.

But the Warriors continued to battle and finally found their way into the endzone as quarterback Conner Danko launched a 16 yard pass to Craig Fluck but failed the two point conversion to make it 30-6.

Then Ryan took over the Mount Union offense and muscled his way into the endzone to score on a 14 yard run before Swanger completed another extra point which made it a 37-6 lead at the half.

Mount Union put on the finishing touches at the start of the third quarter with a 3 yard run for the touchdown by Ryan and with the extra point by Swanger, the 44-6 lead forced the mercy rule.

The Trojans ended up scoring one more time which was also scored by Ryan who went 12 yards for the touchdown making the lead 51-6.

West Branch scored its final touchdown of the night as Danko found Fluck in the endzone again with a 20 yard pass. But the two point conversion failed leaving the score of 51-12.

The dynamic duo of Collins and Ryan carried the Mount Union offense with both running for over a 100 yards for the game. Collins had eight carries for 139 yards with three rushing touchdowns. Ryan had 14 carries for 140 yards and he too also had three rushing touchdowns.

The Mount Union defense came up monstrous throughout the night as the Trojans held the West Branch offense to a grand total of 70 yards for the entire game. Defensively, Mount Union also collected a team total of seven sacks for the game with five of those sacks came from Georgie Bilger. The other two sacks were from Ryan and Jackson Traxler. The Trojans also collected a pair of interceptions as well.

With this victory, the Trojans remain unbeaten and will look to keep those winning ways going next Friday as they will be on the road to face the Moshannon Valley Black Knights with a game time of 7 p.m.