Preview: East Union vs. Ashland
Football season has finally graced us, and we begin the journey of the 2020 football season at the high school level.
East Union begins their regular season against Ashland at 7:00 P.M. at home. This comes after a jamboree victory over the Ripley Tigers 15-0 last Friday.
East Union has many questions still to be answered, but the scrimmage against Ripley gave us some insight on what to expect from the Urchins.
The most notable loss came from losing head coach Kevin Walton and his son Ty, who was the starting quarterback for East Union. The Urchins quickly filled that hole with the hire of Charlie Lott, New Albany High School’s former athletic director, to lead the team into the future.
Rett Johnson looks to fill the role that Ty Walton left at quarterback, and showed flashes of brilliance in the one half played against Ripley. Regardless, the transition will be eased by Colton Plunk and Hayden Roberts. The dynamic duo will be tasked with carrying the workload on the ground and in the receiving core, respectively.
Plunk returns after rushing for over 1,500 yards and gaining over 500 in the passing game with 29 total touchdowns. Roberts is the leading producer from last year’s receiving core with 48 catchers for 891 yards and ten touchdowns.
As for the defense, many of the top producers have departed. However, there is still plenty of upside left for the defensive unit in this year’s campaign.
Edgar Zapata returns as the second-leading tackler from last season with 79 stops and 10.5 tackles for loss. Nick Lamontagne and Micah Fulgham return with a combined 99 tackles and 23 tackles for loss. These three also combined for sixteen sacks in 2019, and will need to produce at the same rate to keep this defense afloat after so much lost production.
Ashland comes into this contest after finishing 2-8 last season with their only wins coming against Thrasher and Byers. The Urchins will look to start off with a victory on their path to repeat as division champions for the first time in school history.
While the youth leaves East Union in the unknown at some positions, it is still safe to expect the Urchins to roll over the Blue Devils to begin the 2020 season.