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O'FALLON, Mo. — Coming off an opening-week loss at Hickman in Columbia and looking at the upcoming schedule that includes traditional Gateway Athletic Conference powers Fort Zumwalt North, Francis Howell and Troy Buchanan over the next three weekends, the Fort Zumwalt West High football squad needed a win Friday night.

The Jaguars prevailed. But it wasn't easy. West rallied after slow starts in each half and survived a 30-23 win over visiting Union.

Both teams are 1-1.

"We got it done, but it wasn't real pretty," Zumwalt West coach Ben Pike said. "Union fought throughout the night and they made things tough on us at times. But we found a way in the end, and that's what we hope to build on."

The host Jaguars found themselves in a hole early when Union junior Brayden Blankenship took the Wildcats' second play from scrimmage 70 yards up the middle and into the end zone for a quick lead. Gabriel Hurst followed with the kick for an early 7-0 lead.

West answered with a ground-and-pound 17-play drive that featured a key pass interference call against Union. The Jaguars tied it with 4:38 to play in the opening quarter when Jordan Rasmussen hooked up with freshman Kiyan Smith on a 14-yard TD pass on fourth-down. The kick from Mason Marx evened the score.

After forcing a punt, West grabbed the lead on the first play of the second quarter when Gavin Morris powered his way into the end zone on an 8-yard run. The kick from Marx made it 14-7.

West added to its lead with 7:40 to play in the second quarter when Smith leaped to haul in a 21-yard pass from Rasmussen. Marx added the kick for a 21-7 advantage.

During a wild stretch of 64 seconds in the second quarter both teams picked up safeties. Union punter Timmy Purschke bobbled a snap and took no chances, booting the ball through the end zone to put West's lead at 23-7 with 5:54 to play in the opening half.

Four plays later, after a snap over the head of Jaguars punter Marx, the junior knocked the ball out of the end zone to make it 23-9 with 4:50 to play before halftime.

West closed out the half strong as Rasmussen hit Reece Kline in the flat for a 10-yard TD pass with 36 seconds left. Marx added the kick for a 30-9 halftime advantage.

"I thought we did a nice job of settling down after they scored to start the game,'' Rasmussen said. "But like last week, there were way too many mental errors and that's something we know has to improve quickly. We need to be better — that includes me, too — and we know we'll have to eliminate a lot of the mistakes."

Union, which opened its season last week with a dramatic 28-21 win over archrival Washington, started the second half Friday with a bang as Blankenship took the kickoff and returned it 85 yards to trim the West lead. Hurst's kick made it 30-16.

West looked ready to add to its lead midway through the third quarter but Rasmussen fumbled deep in Union territory and the Wildcats' Colten Flotte came up with the loose ball.

Union's Ryan Webb broke free down the sideline for 57 yards to the West 7-yard line with about 2 minutes left in the contest. Flotte followed with a 7-yard TD run and Hurst added the kick to cut the West lead to 30-23.

With Union gambling on defense, the Jaguars' Aiden Mincher broke free for 47 yards to the Union 3 as time wound down. But Mincher was stripped of the ball near the goal line on the next play and Union took over.

But the Wildcats' were unable to come up with another late-game rally.

"We don't question our kids' toughness. When it comes to playing four quarters hard, they do it every single time,'' said Union coach Justin Grahl, whose team competes in Class 4 but made a strong showing against Class 6 Zumwalt West. "Our guys played their tails off against a very good football team tonight. Aside from a couple of plays, our defense was there all night. Offensively, we just didn't make enough plays. But that happens when you play a quality opponent."

Grahl continued: "Physically, that's the best football team we'll see until districts and I thought we hung with them pretty well. Tonight, there were plenty of positives to build from, but in the end we made too many mistakes.

"But I cannot be prouder of how hard our guys played. We'll be a better football team eventually because of tonight."