TRACY — East Union missed a chance to ice a long-awaited win over Kimball when it had a 30-yard field goal blocked with a minute to go Friday at Don Nicholson Stadium.

The Lancers wound up doing it with an unconventional touchdown instead, and they celebrated the 28-14 victory that moves them to 2-0 under new coach Booie Daniels while snapping a six-game losing streak to their former Valley Oak League foe.

Kirk Simoni, the holder and EU’s quarterback to start the game, snagged the loose ball off the bounce after it was blocked by 6-foot-3, 250-pound defensive end Jaylin Rodgers, who was earlier in on three sacks. Simoni flung it to Blake Mount, who made the catch in the flat, cut inside and darted to the end zone for the 13-yard touchdown.

“It was crazy. It was just about being heads-up,” Mount said. “Kirk was smart to pick the ball up, and he knew what he was doing. I was just there, ready (for a pass). It’s about knowing the game of football, and it was a smart play. When a play breaks down like that, you have to make something happen.”

Just as the Lancers drew it up.

“We actually drill that, at least twice a week,” Daniels said. “In an emergency situation, if the ball gets blocked or fumbled, we practice that strategically what we’d do. Our guys were alert when that happened. That’s something that we’ve practice in the last couple of weeks, and they were actually able to execute it, which is awesome to see.”

Mount finished with seven catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns. He even had a one-handed snag on a two-point conversion, making it 21-14 early in the fourth quarter.

“Blake can do anything,” said Anthony Morales, EU’s second-half quarterback. “He’s a Transformer, or something. He’s different. I have a lot of faith in Blake, and we have a good connection.”

The tandem helped spark the Lancers’ attack after it was shut out in the first half. Kimball, playing its season opener, led 7-0 at halftime but often stifled itself with penalties and mistakes throughout.

The Jaguars, in fact, coughed up one of their four turnovers on the second-half kickoff. The ball took a favorable East Union bounce, skipping away from Kimball returner Josiah Wilson. Oaktavio Nunez recovered the ball on Kimball’s 31-yard line for the Lancers.

That set them up for their first points of the game, a 10-yard pass delivered by Morales for Mount in the back of the end zone.

East Union caught another break on the ensuing kickoff, as Wilson had a 94-yard touchdown erased by a penalty. The Jaguars went three-and-out on the series, and it only got worse for them when they were flagged for fair-catch interference on the punt.

The Lancers made them pay, taking their first lead of the game, 13-7, on Brayden Camara’s 7-yard run.

Although East Union has potent passing game, the running backs took over in the second half. Camara ended with 70 yards — after just 2 in the first half — and two scores on 13 carries. Also a standout linebacker, Camara had an interception and forced a fumble on defense.

Morales completed four of five passes for 50 yards. Simoni was 7-of-11 passing for 66 yards and two interceptions in the first half, before his late scramble-drill touchdown on the blocked kick.

“We really focused on getting back to the running game,” Daniels said. “That’s something we really pride ourselves on. We know we can throw the rock, but in the second half, the goal was to get the running game going.”

East Union’s balanced attack comprised of 129 passing yards and 98 running.

Defensively, the Lancers were able to limit speedy tailback Jermaine Nance (21 rushes, 58 yards). Kimball, which totaled 164 yards, scored on an 8-yard catch-and-run from Dawson Pelech and an8-yard halfback pass from Richard Zuniga to Tobe Nwankwo.

Vincent Hudson ended the game with an interception. Chris Gallego recovered a fumble caused by Jeremy Ap’e and combined with Vinny Sanchez for East Union’s lone sack.