TRI-COUNTY LEAGUE United stays true to its theme

The Eagles are "staying alive" after an impressive win .
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HANOVERTON -- All week during practice, the United High football team had a song in its head. It has a good beat and you can dance to it. It can also help you win football games.
"It sounds kind of corny, but our theme this week was 'Stayin' Alive,' " United coach Jeff Sharkey said. "I told the kids that if we could beat Columbiana this week we'd only have one league loss and we'd still be alive in the race for the league title."
After their performance against the Clippers Friday, the Golden Eagles (3-4, 3-1) aren't just alive in the Tri-County League race; they are a heartbeat from the top.
Opportunistic
United took advantage of five Columbiana turnovers, converting three of them into 20 points, to capture a 41-33 victory and move into sole possession of second place in the TCL.
The Golden Eagles, left for dead after an 0-3 start, have won three of their last four contests.
"We played a great game last week against Crestview, but the difference this week was that we capitalized on the turnovers and opportunities we had," Sharkey said. "We've really been playing well and I think it's just taken us time to get used to a new system.
"These two weeks of practice have been our best all year and I think it showed tonight," Sharkey said.
Wideout Bubba Taylor was the catalyst as the Eagles soared out of the gate, taking a quick 14-0 lead.
After United scored on its opening drive, Taylor picked off Columbiana quarterback Drew Wagner at the Clippers 29.
On the next play, Taylor made a diving catch on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Bryan Phillips to put the Eagles up by two touchdowns about three minutes into the game.
Clippers respond
Columbiana battled back with two scores of its own, the second coming on a Beau Papania 1-yard run. However, the extra-point kick was unsuccessful.
The special teams miscue on the point-after kick was a preview of things to come as Columbiana's mistakes started to mount.
A turning point came right before halftime as the Clippers were forced to punt. The punt went just five yards and the Eagles took over at the Columbiana 35 with 24 seconds left and a timeout.
After a pair of incomplete passes, Phillips connected with Taylor on a 32-yard bomb. Taylor was tackled at the Columbiana 3 and United was able to stop the clock with two seconds left.
Tarik Solomon finished the job and swung the momentum to United's favor, barreling in from 3 yards out as time expired for a 21-13 halftime lead.
"That score was huge for them," Columbiana coach Bob Spaite said. "United came in ready to play and we really killed ourselves with turnovers and missed opportunities. You can't do that against good football teams."