The Malone College football team posted a dominating 55-21 win over Union (KY) College on Saturday night at Fawcett Stadium.  The Pioneer offense scored touchdowns on each of its first four possessions to take a commanding 27-7 first quarter lead.  This early 20-point advantage then ballooned to 34 points by the end of the night as Malone (2-1) racked up 117 yards on the ground and 362 yards through the air for 479 total yards of offense.  Union (0-3), meanwhile, struggled to sustain drives throughout the contest, finishing with 247 offensive yards (7 yards rushing, 240 yards passing) and five costly turnovers (three interceptions, two fumbles).
     The Pioneers set the tone for the evening on the game’s opening possession with an 11-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by a two-yard scoring plunge by running back Bernard Payton (Sr., Pomona, CA).  Following a quick three and out by the Union offense, Payton found the endzone once again, this time on a 16-yard swing pass from quarterback Billy Bob Orsagh (Jr., Eastland, TX).  Place kicker Mike Skvor (Jr., Long Beach, CA) added the extra point to put Malone in front 13-0 just over five minutes into the game (Skvor’s extra point attempt following the opening scoring drive was no good). 
     After their next possession went backwards, the Bulldogs were again forced to punt and Orsagh quickly made them pay as he found wide receiver Derek Deardorff (Jr., Kenton H.S.) for a nine-yard touchdown pass that increased the Pioneer lead to 20-0 (Skvor’s extra point was good).  Union was able to get on the scoreboard on its ensuing possession as Bulldog quarterback Joey Waters connected with wide receiver Ryan Chambers on 32-yard touchdown pass to trim Malone’s lead to 20-7 with 4:10 remaining in the first quarter. 
     Quarterback Dom Liberati (Jr., Union Local H.S.) then took over the reins of the Malone offense on the next possession and picked up right were Orsagh had left off, leading the Pioneers on a seven-play, 62-yard scoring drive that ended with a 22-yard touchdown reception by wide out Mike Clapham (Sr., Elyria Catholic H.S.).  Skvor followed with an extra point to conclude the frantic first quarter scoring barrage with Malone on top 27-7.  The Pioneers then tacked on another score late in the second quarter as Orsagh hit Deardorff on a 14-yard touchdown pass to increase Malone’s lead to 34-7 at intermission.
     Union opened the second half scoring at the 13:12 mark of the third quarter when Waters completed a 10-yard TD pass to wide receiver Kyle Callahan, cutting the Bulldog deficit to 34-14.  The Pioneers were able to answer right back on their next possession, though, as tight end LaRoi Johnson (Sr., Pittsburgh, PA) snagged a highlight reel, one-handed touchdown catch from Orsagh to push Malone’s advantage back to four scores at 41-14.  Things then got even worse for Union on their next drive as Pioneer defensive back Chris Cruise (Sr., Field H.S.) scooped up a Bulldog fumble and raced 77 yards to the endzone, putting the game out of reach midway through the third quarter at 48-14. 
     Each team would add one more TD in the fourth stanza to account for the 55-21 final.  Waters hit wide out Shawn Kelly on a five-yard score with 8:56 on the clock before Malone defensive linemen Jon Roden (Jr., Girard H.S.) concluded the evening’s scoring minutes later by picking off a Waters pass attempt and sprinting 12 yards into the endzone.  The Pioneers’ 55-point outburst marked the highest scoring total for Malone since the 1998 season when the squad defeated the University of Saint Francis (IN) 55-30.
Orsagh excelled in his first game under the lights at Fawcett Stadium as he completed 22 of his 28 pass attempts (78.6%) for 294 yards and four touchdowns.  Liberati also played very well in Saturday’s game, connecting on nine of 14 throws for 68 yards and one score.  The duo also combined to tie a Pioneer team record with five total touchdown passes in the contest (former Malone quarterback Brad Reifsnyder threw five TD’s against Ohio Dominican in 2004 and Urbana in 2005). 
     In limited playing time, Payton tallied 30 rushing yards on 11 carries while hauling in four catches for 38 yards and two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving).  Deardorff paced the squad in receiving with seven catches for 85 yards, including two TD grabs.  Johnson snagged six catches for 50 yards with one touchdown and Clapham caught four balls for 73 yards and one score. 
     Defensively, linebacker Dan Hromada (Sr., Padua Franciscan H.S.) led the way with a game-high 14 tackles (six solo, 1.5 TFL) in addition to blocking a field goal and forcing the third quarter fumble that was returned for a touchdown.  Linebacker Kevin Kapostasy (Sr., Fairport H.S.) followed with seven tackles (four solo) and defensive lineman Ronell Lee (So., Collinwood H.S.) contributed six tackles (two solo, 1.0 TFL) and one sack.  Roden, linebacker Justin Murphy (Sr., Minerva H.S.), and defensive back Dennis Thornton (Jr., Shaker Heights H.S.) recorded one interception apiece while Cruise and defensive lineman Cody Carroll (Fr., Chardon H.S.) each recovered a fumble.
     On special teams, Tyler Parry (Jr., North Loxahatchee, FL) punted five times for 190 yards with one kick downed inside the 20-yard line and Thornton tallied three kickoff returns for 74 yards.
     This week, Malone will face Olivet Nazarene (IL) University (0-2) on Saturday at home with the kickoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m.  The Pioneers hold a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series with the Tigers.  The two teams last met in 2003 at Fawcett Stadium with Malone winning 35-30.