The Union Knights football team queued behind the field at Union Stadium, La Porte City ahead of their preview match-up with the South Tama Trojans Friday, August 20, 2021. Photo Soren M. Peterson

The Union Knights shook off a pesky 10-game losing streak last Friday. In a road matchup against the Aplington-Parkersburg Falcons, the Knights persevered through four tough quarters of play to earn their first win since October 2019. The final score was 28-21.

The first half of play was lean for both teams, with Union managing one touchdown and not extra points to take a 6-0 lead into halftime.

Two more touchdowns came for the Knights in the third quarter. The Falcons finally found the endzone in the third but were trailing 21-7 headed into the fourth quarter.

A-P wound up winning the final quarter, outscoring Union 14-7, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.

Senior quarterback Grant Behrens captured his first win under center, completing an efficient 60 percent of his passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns, while giving up no interceptions.

Behren’s two top targets were the beneficiaries of both passing touchdowns. Senior Michael Niebergall led the team with 71 yards on six receptions and a touchdown, while Max Eikamp brought down four catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Joren Fisher and Logan Rosauer each had one catch to round out the Knights’ passing game Friday.

On the ground, junior Tyler Wilson turned in a solid performance with 75 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown to pace the Knights rushers. Behrens was the other prong of the Union rushing attack with several short yardarge runs, one that ended in a touchdown.

Behrens was also a force on the defensive end with a team high 10 tackles and the game’s only interception. Other leading tacklers for the Knights included Dakota Marvets with eight, Eikamp with seven and a half, Caleb McGuffy with six as well as a fumble recovery and Fisher with six and a half. Grant Brehm got the team’s only sack on the night.

Aplington-Parkersburg’s successes largely came on the ground courtesy of junior Aidan Junker who led the night with 206 yards on 33 carries and a pair of touchdowns. However, Union’s defense kept sophomore quarterback Gavin Thomas in check, limiting him to 6-of-14 passes for 71 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

The Knights will look to keep the good times rolling against Denver this week for their home opener.

The Cyclones routed Wapsie Valley 42-0 last week behind a balanced attack that saw three rushing touchdowns and three passing touchdowns in the blowout win.