MORRISTOWN — Union Local is 4-0 for the first time since the 2008 season after a hard-earned, 37-34, victory over visiting Harrison Central Friday night at Jets Field. The Jets finished 10-2 that season, splitting a pair of Division IV playoff encounters.

“It’s exciting around here,” Union Local head coach Bruce Stiles said with a huge smile. “I’m happy for the kids and we just have to maintain this and stay healthy. That’s a good team we just beat. They are going to win some games.”

Brian McWhorter ran for 210 yards and three touchdowns, but none bigger than a 58-yard jaunt late in the fourth quarter which turned out to be the winning points. It gave the Jets a 37-27 lead and came less than a minute after the snake-bitten Huskies (2-2) had sliced the deficit to 30-27 on a flea flicker.

McWhorter, who already had touchdown runs that covered 52 and 15 stripes, took a pitch left and turned the corner. A Huskie defender had the angle on him at the 25, but wideout Ty Kildow provided a sealing block as McWhorter sped down the near sidelines. Michael Hansen, a senior foreign exchange student from Germany, split the uprights with one of his three PATs on the night.

Stiles also had praise for his offensive standout, as well as the guys up front.

“He’s one of those guys that runs into the line and kind of hides in there for a second or two before breaking loose and off he goes,” Stiles said. “He did some good things for us, but the offensive line deserves a lot of credit, as well. When a running back can go up in there and hide for a couple of seconds, the offensive line is still driving those legs. That’s a good thing.”

That O-line included T.J. Kelley, Nate Stubbs, Cody Ray, Josh Taylor and Hank Myers.

Harrison Central took the opening kickoff and marched 66 yards on seven plays as senior Jesse Ball went untouched up the middle from 21 yards out. The placement was no good as the Huskies led 6-0.

Union Local had to punt on its first possession, but disaster struck Harrison Central on its third play when quarterback Wyatt Elias was sacked by Cody Ray and fumbled. The Jets Austin Koscoe scooped it up at the 10 and waltzed into the end zone. Hansen put the hosts ahead 7-6.

Harrison Central also fumbled the ensuing kickoff as Zach Greene pounced on the loose ball at the Huskies’ 45. However, that drive ended with an ill-advised pass that Harrison Central’s Ronnie Bowers picked off at the 10. The visitors could get no offensive movement and punted to the Jets’ 48.

On first down, McWhorter took a handoff into the center of the line and disappeared for a split second before dashing 52 yards to paydirt. Isaiah Meyer’s placement made it 14-6. The Jets increased their margin to 21-6 with McWhorter darted around his right end early in the third quarter from 15 yards out. Hansen booted the point-after.

The Huskies cut into the deficit when speedy sophomore tailback Tyler West sprinted 61 yards off left tackle with a minute left before the half. However, the try for two failed.

Union Local struck back quickly. Quarterback Shane Smolenak lofted the ball downfield on first down and Josh Bolyard caught it in stride behind a defender to complete a 65-yard scoring play. The kick was no good and the Jets led 27-12 at the break.

“We have to avoid the slow starts and play smarter at times,” Harrison Central head coach Justin Kropka lamented. “We talked all week about playing smarter. I kind of took last week (a 35-34 loss at Bellaire) on myself. It hurt us again tonight when we have four turnovers in the first half. We don’t commit turnovers. We went over things this week and we’ve got to be able to make the plays.”

A bad snap led to a Union Local interception late in the third quarter. The Huskies were able to capitalize when Elias bulled his way in from a yard out. Once again, the try for two was no good, leaving the Huskies on the short end of a 27-18 count.

Following another Huskies’ pick, they drove deep into Union Local territory before the drive stalled. Senior Logan Starr was called upon for a 25-yard field goal attempt, which he split the uprights on to make it 27-21.

The Jets answered with a 30-yard field goal from Hansen, who Stiles raved about, as the margin grew to 30-21.

“The kids has only been kicking a football for two weeks. He never played soccer or football until he got here, but he’s got a live leg.”

On Harrison Central’s second play following the three-pointer, West took a handoff and found DeJuan Caldwell deep down the field for a 59-yard scoring toss. The extra point failed, as did the ensuing onside kick that Stubbs recovered.

“Our kids always play hard,” Kropka said. “That’s always a staple of us.”

Despite being 4-0, Stiles knows there is still work ahead for his squad.

“Offensively, there were some things that we did really well in the first half that we didn’t do well in the second half,” Stiles noted. “They (Harrison) made some adjustments and I probably got a little too cautious in the second half, and we might have lost some momentum because of that, but the kids stepped up when we needed them to.”

West continued his breakout season by rushing for 210 yards on 31 carries. He now has 860 yards on the season, including three 200-plus games.

Harrison Central returns home Friday to host Martins Ferry. Union Local welcomes Edison for homecoming.

Union Local 37, Harrison Central 34

Harrison Central                6    6   6   16 —  34

Union Local                       14  13   0   10 —  37

HC: Ball 21 run (kick failed)

UL: Koscoe 10 fumble return (Hansen kick)

UL: McWhorter 52 run (Meyer kick)

UL: McWhorter 15 run (Hansen kick)

HC: West 61 run (run failed)

UL: Bolyard 65 pass from Smolenak (kick failed)

HC: Elias 1 run (run failed)

HC: Starr 28 FG

UL: Hansen 30 FG

HC: Caldwell 59 pass from West (kick failed)

UL: McWhorter 58 run (Hansen kick)

HC: Ball 10 pass from Elias (Starr kick)

RUSHING: Harrison Central 44-288-3 (West 31-210-1, Caldwell 1-27, Ball 4-26-1, Elias 7-24-1, Carter 1-1). Union Local 30-218-3 (McWhorter 21-210-3, Smolenak 8-6, Howell 1-2)

PASSING: Harrison Central 8-17-101-2-2 (Elias 7-16-42-1-2, West 1-1-59-1). Union Local 5-13-162-1-3 (Smolenak 5-12-162-1-3, Menges 0-1)

RECEIVING: Harrison Central 8-101-2 (Caldwell 2-60-1, Roberts 2-16, Arbaugh 2-15, Ball 1-10-1, West 1-4). Union Local 5-162-1 (Bolyard 3-116-1, Menges 1-37, Howell 1-9).

FIRST DOWNS: Harrison Central 16, Union Local 11.

PENALTIES-YARDS: Harrison Central 3-25, Union Local 7-65.

FUMBLES-LOST: Harrison Central 2-2, Union Local 0-0.