FROSTBURG, Md. — Iosefa Pua’auli is a man of few words. He’d rather let his play on the field do the talking.
“I’m one of the leaders, but I’m not very vocal. I lead by my performance,” he said.
The Mountain Ridge senior did just that Friday night as he tallied 210 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries to lead the Miners to a 34-13 win against University.
“He gets out of his breaks and out of his cuts faster than any running back we’ve seen all year,” said University senior Amir Richardson. “He did a great job tonight.”
Pua’auli’s performance was the centerpiece of a dominant rushing attack for the Miners, as they recorded 352 yards and four touchdowns.
“They’ve been running this Wing-T offense for years. I’m a recent transfer,” said Pua’auli of the Miners’ run game. “With the pieces we have, we’re able to make corrections and dominate. I just want to make a great shoutout to my lineman and my team for making it work.”
The Hawks played close with the Miners in terms of offensive production, but was assessed 80 yards in penalties and threw four interceptions — one inside of the Mountain Ridge 5-yard line, and one the Miners returned for a touchdown.
“I don’t think they were three touchdowns better than us,” said University coach John Kelley. “You can’t make mistakes against any team like that and expect to stay in the game.”
Richardson and sophomore J.T. Brown split time at quarterback with starter Logan Holgorsen out because of a high ankle sprain. Each of them threw two interceptions.
“They need experience. Right now, we practice one day a week on offense and then we have to get them in the game,” Kelley said. “When you don’t have your main guy pulling the trigger, the timing is off a little bit. The decisions by young quarterbacks aren’t always the best.”
“The play at quarterback tonight definitely didn’t live up to what we thought it would tonight,” Richardson said. “I didn’t know replacing Logan would be this hard – it gives me a new appreciation for what he does and how easy he makes it look. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
When the Hawks weren’t struggling with turnovers, the penalties – which Richardson referred to as “ticky-tacky” – played a large part in flipping field position and momentum. An 85-yard touchdown run by Richardson and an Anthony Williams return deep into Mountain Ridge territory were among the plays called back on penalties.
“I don’t think we lack discipline, but when you’re holding and reaching and things like that – it shows a lack of fundamentals,” Kelley said. “We’ll have to get back to fundamentals this week.”
The loss drops University to 3-4 with just three games remaining. It puts an additional sense of urgency on the Hawks and their playoff hopes.
“With four losses, we can’t lose another one. It’s that simple. Everyone will say, 4-6 made it last year, but you can’t always count on that,” Kelley said. “This year, it doesn’t look like 5-5 will get in. We have three games left and they’re must wins. We can’t do anything about it until we play next week.”
