Sports : Coach Hadachek: Tough season, injuries making Knights a better team

In 2010, says Union Football Coach Joe Hadachek, Union "came from nowhere" to complete a regular season without a loss. The undefeated 2010 Knights were Class 3A District Champions heading into first round playoff action. They had home field advantage. The played a team that had already lost four games.

But then, Union lost.

Clear Creek Amana defeated the Knights by a touchdown; CCA has not won a game since that October 2010 evening in La Porte.

Was that 2010 loss a motivating factor for the 2011 Knights?

Yes, indeed, says Hadachek.

"Our players asked me to open the weight room the first day after the loss," recalled Hadachek this morning, the day after Union defeated Maquoketa 21-13 to advance to semi-final action at the UNI-Dome..

At first, Hadachek said no.

"I believed we needed some time away to recuperate," he said.

The players, however, kept asking until the coach finally said yes.

"I realized they were hungry already for next year and I could not keep turning down all their requests. So we dug in and got after it right away. Our athletes have the opportunity to lift year round. It makes a huge difference. We believe in our strength and conditioning program, and it has been a big factor in our success," says the coach.

The team members particiapte in lifting sessions four times each week during the season.

"It's not a long session but the quality is there," Hadachek says.

Last year's team did well, but failed to finish strong, says Hadachek. For the 2011 team, a difficult season that included several injuries helped make the Knights stronger with each passing week.

"This year's team has encountered a different journey. We have been challenged by more injuries that we have ever sustained in the last five years and have embraced 'the next man in' philosophy. If someone goes down, someone steps up to fill that void. As a coaching staff we agree this has allowed us overcome much adversity," said the coach.

The Union defense had averaged one fumble recovery per game over the course of the 2011 season. But in its last two playoff games, Union recovered two fumbles vs. Solon and three vs. Maquoketa while defeating Top 10 teams and earning a spot in the Class 3A High School Football State Semi-Finals at the UNI-Dome next Monday.

The Knights defeated seventh-rated Maquoketa, 21-13, Monday in La PorteCity, a week after defeating No. 3 Solon, 39-24. At Solon, the Knights handed the Spartans their first playoff loss in five years.

Against Maquoketa, which had defeated the Knights 35-15 earlier this season, the Knights forced and recovered three fumbles, two of them inside their own 10-yard line. The 13 points is the lowest scored by the Cardinals all season. Maquoketa had averaged 38.5 points per game over the first 11 contests.

Going into the playoff game, Hadachek said Union defensive coaches knew they had to do better than the previous contest vs. the Cardinals.

"We focused on getting fundamentally better vs. the inside plays of Maquoketa," he said. "We have been playing with great intensity on defense. It helped to have Will Crees back at LB also. We bent but did not break in first half and it's a tribute to game planning by our defensive staff and also our players being coachable this late in the season. Everyone is stepping up."

Unionwill play ADM-Adel next Monday; the other two remaining Class 3A teams are Decorah and Harlan. Uniondefeated Decorah, 20-17, in the season opener in August.

Sophomore QB Jay Scheel was the offensive star of the night, scoring on a 76-yard run as well as a 90-yard punt return and also passing for a score.

"Jay has continued to get better and better every game," says Hadachek. "He has natural abilities to go along with super instincts and he is learning the leadership role of the QB. He is a triple threat, to throw, run, and also punt return."

See complete Union-Maquoketa stats HERE.