Prep Football: United North Central outlasts Royalton, 20-19 (UPDATED)

Brandon Junes connected with Markus Tolkkinen on a 30-yard touchdown pass with over a minute left in the game to give the Warriors the 20-19 victory Friday night in Sebeka.

The junior passed for 239 yards and two touchdowns and ran in another as United North Central survived a wild fourth quarter that saw the score changed hands five times.

Royalton broke open the scoreless game with a one-yard run from Tony Gadacz with 4:11 left in the third quarter, but the Warriors answered on Junes’ one-yard run at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Ray Mueller added the extra point kick to tie the game at 7-7.

The Royals retook the lead on a 24 yard touchdown pass from Andy Poster to Mitch Zimmerman. The senior running back would frustrate the Warrior defense with 117 yards receiving on five catches on the night. The extra point kick failed, but Royalton led 13-7.

United North Central countered with a 15 yard touchdown pass from Junes to Brandon Burgau, only to watch the Royals answer right back a minute later on a 24 yard touchdown run by Gadacz.

“It was a hard fought battle on Friday night, and the guys from both teams played extremely hard.” United North Central head coach Jeremy Nordick said. “I thought early in the game we left a lot of scoring opportunities out there that would have put us in a better situation, but I think we realize now that we cannot have mental breakdowns in the red zone.”

After the Warriors tied it up late in the fourth quarter on Junes’ second career touchdown pass of the game, Mueller nailed the extra-point kick for the one-point lead, 20-19.

United North Central stood firm on defense with Carlos Castro securing an interception to cement the victory.

“I was encouraged with the improvement of our new 3-4 defense...we have really improved since even last week.” Nordick added. “We've got a tough team in Upsala-Swanville at their place, so we need to get back to work in practice this week and get better.”

United North Central racked up 305 yard of total offense with only 66 yards coming from their ground game. Carlos Castro was the Warriors leading rusher with 35 yards on 11 carries. The Warriors had four receivers with 30 or more yards on the night. Sophomore Keiler Skaro led the way with four catches for 67 yards while Tolkkinen finished with 56 yards on three receptions. Tanner Schwartz and Brandon Burgau also had three catches apiece for 43 and 35 yards, respectively.

Defensively, Justin Leudke led the team in tackles with

United North Central (1-1) travels to Upsala-Swanville Area at 7 p.m. Friday

Royalton at United North Central on September 8 (in Sebeka)
Warriors 20, Royals 19
Royalton 0 0 7 12—19
United North Central 0 0 0 20—20
First Quarter
No scoring
Second Quarter
No scoring
Third Quarter
ROY—Tony Gadacz 1 run (Juan Castro kick)
Fourth Quarter
UNC—Brandon Junes 1 run (Ray Mueller kick)
ROY—Mitch Zimmerman 24 pass from Andy Poster (kick failed)
UNC—Brandon Burgau 15 pass from Junes (kick failed)
ROY—Gadacz 24 run (kick failed)
UNC—Markus Tolkkinen 30 pass from Junes (Mueller kick)

Team Stats
Rushes-Yards: UNC 22-66
Pass Comp-Att-Int-Yards: UNC 18-33-1-239; ROY—9-17-2-179
Total Offense: UNC 305

Individual Stats
Rushing: UNC—Carlos Castro 11-35, Brandon Junes 5-16, Justin Luedke 5-13, Teague Weaver 1-2; ROY—Mitch Zimmerman 11-65, Tony Gadacz 15-82, Cade Stang 4-19
Passing: UNC—Junes 18-33-1-239; ROY—Andy Poster 9-17-2-179
Receiving: UNC—Keiler Skaro 4-67, Markus Tolkkinen 3-56, Tanner Schwartz 3-43, Brandon Burgau 3-35, Castro 3-19, Mitch Hesse 1-13, Tanner Burgau 1-6; ROY—Zimmerman 5-117, Jeremy Grittner 2-36, Tyler Sieben 2-26
Defensive Standouts: UNC—Luedke 8 tackles; Weaver 7 tackles; Bryson Vasey 7 tackles; Alex Schoon 6 tackles; Matt Squires 6 tackles; Tolkkinen 3 tackles, interception; Castro interception