United’s Thomas Brown sprints by Lisbon’s Matthew Henderson (53) on a 54-yard touchdown run after getting a block from Logan Wood (64) on Friday. (Morning Journal/Ron Firth)

HANOVERTON — United remembered what it felt like to fall short in perhaps the greatest upset in Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference history last season.

The Golden Eagles were not going to let that happen again.

Coming to play in all phases of the game, the Eagles dropped Lisbon 42-0 in a game that was essentially over at halftime on Friday.

Lisbon ruined United’s run at an undefeated regular season in 2023 with a 21-20 win that no one saw coming.

“We did everything for 21 and we were not letting down,” United junior cornerback Sydney Casto said.

The ’21’ he was referring to was the final point total Lisbon had last season.

Casto did his part with a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter that pretty much left no doubt that United was going to win in a lopsided fashion.

“I the tight end leaking out, I saw (the quarterback look) and I saw the ball go up and I just got in full stride, picked it off and my next look was the end zone,” Casto said.

Casto, who weighs 135 pounds, took it away from Lisbon’s 240-pound tight end Luke Kraft on his way to the end zone. The winds from Hurricane Helene helped too as the ball thrown by Grant Minor hung in the air for a while.

“The pressure made him throw it to where someone would get to it,” Casto said.

United moved to 5-1 and 3-0 in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference. The Golden Eagles share the league lead with Valley Christian. Lisbon sunk to 2-3 and 1-2 in the league.

The Golden Eagle defensive front limited Lisbon to 19 yards rushing on 24 attempts. Blue Devil star running back Ashton Hinchliffe was held to 11 yards rushing.

“It was heart-wrenching last year,” United senior lineman Trent Ellyson said. “I played both ways. We had a few people out so that made it harder to deal with.”

Ellyson said the line prided itself on being physical and made Lisbon notice almost from the start.

“It’s impressive (to hold Hinchliffe to 11 yards) because he’s one of the better backs in the league,” Ellyson said. “It comes down to playing well as a defense, getting to the ball and good team tackling.”

On the offensive end, Kollyn Wells rushed for 113 yards and touchdown runs of 1, 19 and 34 yards. Thomas Brown added a 54-yard touchdown run and Parker Newburn also added a 16-yard touchdown run.

The Golden Eagles went 67 yards in the 13 plays for a touchdown on the opening drive and never looked back. United only attempted three passes and completed none.

“With a night like this we knew we had to run the ball,” United coach D.J. Ogilvie said. “Our line did a great job.”

Lisbon will have to regroup as it travels to Valley Christian next Saturday.

“We did not use our physicality well at all,” Lisbon coach Bill Meek said. “(United) played great football. They played like a team that really wanted to win this football game. We struggled at times with a lot of things. They just beat us up.”

United will host Leetonia next Friday.

Game notes

• Ogilvie had some former colleagues on his mind Friday. One of the United coach’s former stops was at Lemon Bay High School in Englewood, Florida from 2011 to 2016. The Lemon Bay community, located between Sarasota and Fort Myers was in the path of Hurricane Helene’s destruction.

“There was a lot of flooding,” Oglivie said. “A couple of my friends have water to the mid-door of their house, but homecoming was (Friday) and they actually played the game, which shocked me.”

L: 0- 0-0-0–0

U: 14-21-0-7–42

SCORING

U–Kollyn Wells 1 run (Zac Figley kick)

U–Kollyn Wells 19 run (Figley kick)

U–Sydney Casto 63 interception return (Figley kick)

U–Thomas Brown 54 run (Figley kick)

U–Parker Newburn 16 run (Figley kick)

U–Kollyn Wells 34 run (Liam Jones kick)

——

L U

First downs 7 13

Total Yards 95 308

Rushes-yards 24-19 30-308

Passing 76 0

Comp-Att-Int 8-18-1 0-3-0

Punts 4-30 0-0

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 4-21 9-110

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Lisbon, Ashton Hinchliffe 19-11; United, Kollyn Wells 12-113, Parker Newburn 5-52, Thomas Brown 1-54, Braden Schwartz 9-48.

PASSING–Lisbon, Grant Minor 8-18-76-1 ; United, Parker Newburn 0-2-0-0, Thomas Brown 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING–Lisbon, Luke Kraft 3-48, Ashton Hinchliffe 2-7, Aiden Myers 1-8, Wyatt Newbold 1-6,Colt Tullis 1-7.

INTERCEPTIONS–United, Sydney Casto.