MONROE — Late in the fourth quarter, the Union Academy players gave their coach an ice-water shower in honor of their first win as a varsity football program.

“It feels great, especially for the kids,” coach Lynn Keziah said. “We’re extremely young ... but we knew tonight was a game that we matched up well.”

In its first varsity season, Union Academy had played to a tie, but never earned a win until Friday. Ironically, the victory came against Cuthbertson, which got its first win the previous week.

Union Academy won the game largely by dominating time of possession and controlling the ground attack. The Cardinals ran the ball 67 times for 449 yards and ran a total of 74 plays from scrimmage, compared to 58 plays for Cuthbertson.

Tyree Drakeford was called on to carry the majority of that ground attack, going for 205 yards on 31 attempts.

“I can’t take credit by myself,” said Drakeford, pointing out the offensive line for opening up holes for him. “If we all work together we can win.”

Several times in the game, it looked like Drakeford was about to break off a long run, but his longest rush was only 20 yards on Union Academy’s third play and it his only rush that went longer than 13 yards. It was his consistency, however, that helped propel Union Academy to victory. The 5-foot-8-inch sophomore had 21 rushes of at least five yards and did not lose yardage on any plays.

“We’ve moved the ball pretty well all year on the ground,” Keziah said.

Cuthbertson coach Mike Roark saw it as a situation where the bigger guy won the battle at the line of scrimmage. “They just bullied us,” he said. “We’re having a hard time dealing with teams that are older and bigger than us.”

Defensively, Jake Caridi laid the biggest hit of the game, ending Cuthbertson’s efforts at a comeback.

With 1:44 left in the fourth quarter, Cuthbertson faced a fourth and 10 from the Union Academy 40 when quarterback Ray Royal threw a strike to Emmitt Afam which he likely would have held for a first down had Caridi not jarred the ball loose with a thundering hit. The collision erupted the Union Academy sideline and all but sealed the victory for the Cardinals.

“We practice how we play, you know, hit as hard as you can,” Caridi said. “We’ve got a young team, but we’ve got a strong team.”

Putting the game in historical perspective, Keziah smiled as he stood in front of the locker room shaking hands with boosters and supporters.

“Union Academy football is on the rise,” he said. “I think the future is outstanding.”

Union Academy can return 30 of its 32 players next year.