Uni Hangs Tough with Beckman in the First Half
Daryl Bogard, UNI Football Boosters
Game Date: October 13, 2023 7:30PM PST | Photography by: Sandrine Scherson
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Uni hung tough with Beckman in a road game Fri night at Tustin High School trailing just 14-7 at Tustin High School.
Blake Fleming opened the scoring for Beckman with a 17-yard run in the first quarter. Fleming had 68 yards on 15 carries.
Late in the first quarter, Shepard scored on a 54-yard keeper to put Beckman up 14-0. Shepard had 131 yards of total offense, 69 on the ground and 62 in the air.
Midway through the second quarter University running back Jai Williams scored on a 14-yard run to cut the deficit to 14-7. Williams was the game’s leading rusher with 18 runs for 104 yards.
Shepard scored on a one-yard run in the third quarter and hit Sean O’Rourke on a 27-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter. Gui De Luca hit a 24-yard field goal in the final period. Beckman ended up prevailing 31-7.
Beckman had 286 yards of total offense, 224 on the ground. Sophomore Zayne Lee was Beckman’s leading rusher with four carries for 71 yards. Shepard had 69 yards on 8 runs to go along with 62 yards in the air.
University had 164 yards of total offense, 98 running and 66 passing. The 3-4 Trojans actually had more first downs (14) than the victorious 7-1 Patriots (13).
Koa Saito completed 5 of 8 passes for 30 yards and one interception before leaving with an injury early in the fourth quarter. Blaine Anderson relieved Saito and completed 6 of 12 passes for 66 yards.
Brooks Beckmann caught 3 passes for 31 yards. Jonathan Soto had 2 receptions for 20 yards. Lucca Clouthier had a pair for 17 yards. Carl Oldham had one reception for 5 yards. Williams, Saito and Zephyr Reynolds each had a catch for negative yardage.
Skye Murphy had kickoffs of 55 and 58 yards and an extra point. Luke McHenry punted three times for 101 yards. Soto had a 24-yard kick return and a 13-yard punt return.
Preliminary analysis showed Williams and Eithar Takesh as leading tacklers with seven apiece. Takesh also had a tackle for loss. Ryan Shabbak had half a dozen tackles. Richard Bines had 5 including a sack and a TFL. Damari Carter had 5 tackles while Reynolds had 4. Owen Chiou had 3 tackles and a sack. Beckmann and Asger Ross each had 3 tackles.
Uni had 2 turnovers while Beckman did not lose the ball. Each team was guilty of 9 penalties. Uni’s penalties have Beckman 59 yards. Beckman’s penalties gave Uni 83 yards.
Beckman converted on third down 5 times in 10 chances while Uni converted 2 of 9 as well as 1 of 3 fourth down opportunities.
Uni plays Woodbridge at home on Senior Night Fri Oct 20.