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Union
City football coach Keith Malloy watches his team in a
recent scrimmage at Arcanum. CNO photo by
George Starks
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Union City looks to improve from a year ago
By George Starks
UNION CITY, IND. - Coming off a stellar 7-4 season a year ago, the
Union City Indians will look to be right back in the thick of the
Tri-Eastern Conference under head coach Keith Malloy.
Malloy, a former player and the coach of the now disbanded Randolph
County Rage, has high hopes for his Indians as his team finished third
in the TEC a year ago.
“I really think we’re in good shape,” said Malloy. “We lost quite a few
seniors last year and they were a big part of our offense and defense
both. The younger kids are stepping up and I think we’ll be fine. I
think the conference race will be between us, Northeastern and
Winchester.”
With the Indians schedule ready to get underway a week before Ohio on
August 23 on the road against the Tri-High Titians, the home opener for
the Tribe will be the season opener for Mississinawa Valley.
After that, the Indians will get into the meat of the TEC, facing the
likes of Union County, Centerville, rival Winchester, Cambridge City
Lincoln, Hagerstown and Northeastern with Monroe Central making up the
rest of the nine game schedule for Union City.
Now, Malloy has to concentrate on his game plan for the 2013 season.
“Last year, we had a passing offense, but with the loss of seniors, we
will run the ball more this season,” admitted Malloy. “I think we’ve
got good kids filling in and we are re-loading right now.”
With youth come mistakes and that preverbal learning curve and Malloy
is meeting that challenge head on after seeing his team in the 7 on 7
scrimmages at Arcanum recently.
“The passing game looked good,” said Malloy. “We need to learn our
routes better, but that will come as the season starts. With two-a-days
coming up, I think we’re in a good place right now.”
As with any offense, it all starts with the quarterback.
“Our quarterback is junior Taylor Moore,” said Malloy. “He’s been down
on the junior varsity the last two years and has really matured there.
We will run the option with him a lot more than we have in the past so
he will run the ball more as well. He has a very strong arm and we need
to make sure he’s accurate and on the button.”
Malloy finished by saying his team can win the conference this season.
“We’ll be there in the end,” Malloy pointed out. “We moved in the
sectional this year and have a favorable sectional for us. I think we
will contend for a sectional title as well as a conference title.”
With guys like Mason Wion, Trey Burton and a kid named Anguino, the
Indians will be a team to be dealt with.
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