After coming up short by a single point in their season opener and surrendering a halftime lead in their second game, the Hagerstown Tigers have elevated their play, both offensively and defensively. Hagerstown traveled to Liberty on Friday, Sept. 12, for a Tri-Eastern game with Union County, and the Tigers completely dominated the game.
Less than three minutes into the game, the Tigers capped off a six-play drive with a 29-yard touchdown run from Graham Vinson, followed by a PAT kick from Cale Schmitz. After turning the Patriots over on downs, Isaac Schmitz returned the ensuing Patriots punt 56 yards to the 2-yard line. Ty Lieberman ran for the final 2 yards to give the Tigers a 13-0 lead five minutes into the game.
On the next series, Gus Golliher picked up a Patriot fumble and ran 35 yards for a scoop and score that increased the Tiger lead to 19-0 at the six-minute mark.
The second quarter was even more productive for the Tigers.
A 20-yard TD pass from Vinson to Fletcher Callahan was followed by a two-point conversion pass to Ben Hokey; a 5-yard TD run from Keegan Rue was followed by a two-point conversion pass to Isaac Schmitz; a 34-yard TD run from Jaxon Hale and a 10-yard TD pass to Landon Thornburg both followed by PAT kicks from Cale Schmitz ballooned the Tiger lead to 49-0 at halftime to trigger a running clock in the second half.
The Tigers were content to run the clock for most of the second half. Hale got a step on the defense with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and sprinted 55 yards for a touchdown. A two-point conversion pass from Vinson to Arlin Berger made the final score 57-0.
Graham Vinson completed 11 of 14 pass attempts in the game for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Vinson connected with eight different receivers. Vinson was also the leading rusher with 130 yards on six carries. Hale rushed for 102 yards.
The Tiger defense dominated the Patriots. Kaden Hall led with seven tackles, Keith Lumpkin had six and Golliher and Rue both had five. Nick Tinkle and Callahan both had interceptions, and Golliher scored for the defense with his scoop and score.
The Patriots were limited to 69 net yards for the game, 20 rushing and 49 passing.
Tiger head coach Scott Snodgrass said his team has worked to improve every week. “There are always little things you can fix, but the kids have worked to improve every week,” Snodgrass said. “We set a lot of individual and team goals for this week, and for the most part, we achieved them. I am really proud of our effort.”
Hagerstown will return home for another TEC game next Friday, Sept. 19, when they host Lincoln for Homecoming.
Hagerstown (2-2, 2-2 TEC) 19 30 0 8 57
Union County (1-3, 1-3 TEC) 0 0 0 0 0
A version of this article appeared in the September 17 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.