Lions come roaring
Unity picks up its first eight-man win in a shootout against Shiloh Hills. Unity Christian 72, Shiloh Hills 50
All offseason, Unity Christian football coach Mark Ackerman talked about making his team ready for eight-man football in 2017. After a winless 2016 season, he felt his players were ready to adjust and become a competitor in any game they played.
The defense may still need some work, but the offense is up to speed.
In what often looked like a basketball game, Unity and Shiloh Hills traded punches throughout the first half before the Lions scored the last 30 points to win 70-52 at Grizzard Park Friday night.
It is Unity’s first eightman victory since it made the switch last season.
“For our first practice, we talked about real expectations,” Ackerman said. “And we didn’t talk about winning a state title, we talked about competing and winning four or five games. Tonight we proved that’s possible.”
It was the kind of performance on offense most teams could only hope for, including the very Unity Christian team that played last season. The Lions (1-0) only scored 80 points in eight games last season, with a season high of 24 points.
Ackerman has made multiple changes in positions with his team since that final 2016 game, hoping to utilize more speed.
That included making the main quarterback Terry Curry, a small but speedy Lion who spent most of last season at running back.
Curry could not do wrong on Friday, recording an astonishing 417 total yards and eight touchdowns, including 244 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
“I knew we had speed we could expose this season, and Terry is certainly one of those guys,” Ackerman said. “He has a few moves that I have never seen as a coach.”
Ackerman’s unit lost five games last season by 20 points or more, but he saw signs this team wouldn’t break in practice.
The team got a real test Friday when Shiloh Hills (0-1) was up 44-20 in the second, mostly behind running back Nathan Pickett and quarterback Josh Jenkins. Pickett played three positions to finish with 228 total yards and five touchdowns.
But Unity posted three touchdowns before the first half to cut the lead to two points, including two touchdown passes from Curry to Jason Slaughter. Frustrated by the comeback, Jenkins was kicked out of the game for arguing with officials, putting Shiloh with eight total players.
But the Lions stayed strong and composed, unfazed by any kind of bad breaks.
“We can’t afford to act out or retaliate with the opponent,” Ackerman said. “But we stayed composed, and that makes the difference in games like this.”
Another way Ackerman hoped to get some wins this season was just outlasting opponents, and his team got its chance entering the fourth down 50-42. Curry threw an 11yard touchdown to Eli Wells early in the fourth, and a two-point conversion tied the game.
From that point, Shiloh Hills failed to get another first down and struggled to even get past the line of scrimmage. The same players who shined on offense, Curry, Slaughter, Wells and Collin Mathis, were all making stops to get back on the field and keep scoring.
Shiloh lost another player due to injury, and the Unity took off from there. Touchdowns from Curry, Wells and Drew King all came in the final six minutes to put them over the top.
“I knew both teams were gassed by the second quarter,” Ackerman said. “We just had to hold on and outlast the other team, and we could make a move.”
Unity Christian plays again next week when it hosts Young Americans Christian School.