Small-town football power: No. 22 Union Mine improves to 6-0 in win over Rosemont

Matt Ray appreciates small-town football.

In his playing days, the first-year coach at Union Mine High School played at Quincy High in the Northern Section. His grandfather, Don and dad, Jeff, both coached at the school, where he set school passing records in the 1990s.

Ray guided Antelope to playoff success for a decade before stepping down to pursue a new adventure as the athletic director at Union Mine in El Dorado. He assumed control of the football post in the offseason and now has his No. 22-ranked Diamondbacks rolling after a 29-8 win over No. 24 Rosemont on Friday night.

“This is kind of how I was raised,” Ray said. “I’ve been (coaching) most of my life. My family doesn’t know any different.”

He added, “The community support (has) been great. We travel well. Our home atmosphere is crazy. We have been averaging over 2,000 people. It has been a cool atmosphere. It’s small-town Friday night football the way it should be, where everything shuts down and everyone cares and supports.”

Union Mine, which improved to 6-0, has a quarterback in Calvin Owens who grew up in the area and has played the position since he was 8 years old. Owen had a pair of touchdown strikes against Rosemont. One went to Nick Conant for 16 yards and the other went to Joe Repass for 85 yards to open up the second half. Repass also caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Landon Stirling off a trick play.

“What I love about playing quarterback is being the leader,” Owens said. “Being the quarterback is fun and it’s cool but I try not to worry about it too much. People do (come up to me on campus), but I try and not make it a big deal.”

The Diamondbacks’ rushing attack came to play, too. Scott Smith had a team-high 78 yards rushing and Parker Mallot added 49 with a 4-yard touchdown. Union Mine’s offensive line of Jack Clark, Christian Grant, John Murphy, Alijah Smith and Jaxon King protected Owens and company all night. The defensive line forced a pair of fumbles and Nick Donlan had two first-half sacks.

“Our offensive line is doing great,” Owens said. “They have been doing excellent all year.”

Union Mine led 14-0 at the half and 29-0 after the third quarter. Rosemont star running back Michael Cherry scored his team’s lone touchdown of the night on a 1-yard run. Cherry also caught a two-point conversion from quarterback Joseph Ortiz.

Union Mine (6-0) faces Liberty Ranch next, which could go a long way in deciding the Sierra Valley Conference championship. Rosemont (6-1) travels to play El Dorado.