High school football: Union out to prove last season not a fluke

ROOSEVELT — To the outside world, all the success that Union's football team enjoyed last fall was down to one guy — all-everything quarterback Rhen Richard.

There's no denying that Richard, who has since graduated and moved on to professional rodeo, was absolutely fantastic a season ago and that players like him are not easily replaced.

However, the Union Cougars feel like they were much more than one-man show last fall when they won Region 10 and advanced to the 3A semifinals, and for the guys that are coming back, they're out to prove it.

"We're coming into this year with a lot of confidence, coming off a winning season like that, and I think we're just as good if not better than last year," said senior Kaden Richard, Rhen's little brother who starred at running back and corner back last fall and should enjoy an even bigger season this fall. "I think that we'll be just fine."

That seems to be the consensus in Roosevelt, even if people outside the community expect the Cougars to just disappear off the radar without Rhen Richard and without coach Doug Bills, who returned to Springville High after just one season at Union's helm.

Should first-year coach Sam Elliott or his players need any extra motivation, they need only look at the fact that Region 10 coaches voted Union to finish dead last 12 months after winning the league.

"I think everybody's assuming that because Rhen's gone, and everybody thought Rhen was just a one-man show," Elliott said of the prognostications. "What we have to do is we can't be a one-man show. Yeah, we don't have Rhen, but we have plenty of other kids that can step it up. I believe in our kids."

Because Union had such small participation numbers last fall, the program didn't even field a JV team. That could obviously hurt the program going forward, but in terms of this year, Union will have plenty of returning experience on both sides of the ball and there's no reason why the Cougars can't be very good again.

And it will all start with the offensive line.

Left tackle Marcel Bourque, center Michael Yazzie and right guard Jason Thompson are all returning starters along the O-line. Additionally, right tackle Tim Duncan started some games last fall and much is expected from left guard Drew Banks.

"I think our offensive line is going to be way ahead of anybody else, and yeah, any coach will tell you that's where it all starts," said Elliott, who left Tooele High for Union High because of financial reasons.

"If our offensive line is good, we're gonna be good. So what we lost Rhen Richard? We're gonna have the best offensive line in the state. That's the way I see it, and that's what'll win us ballgames this year."