RIMERSBURG — Dugan Gallagher doesn't tense up when he's carrying the football and sees a defender charging toward him.

The 5-foot-9, 160-pound Union junior running back was never afraid of being hit.

He would have preferred to avoid it as possible.

This season, he's started to focus on being more physical to get tough yards.

“It took me a long time,” Gallagher said. “I was more of a juke and outrun. I didn't like to get hit hard.”

Gallagher started to put his head down more and sacrifice for the team.

It's led to a successful start, as Gallagher leads the 2-1 Knights with 327 rushing yards and averages 8.2 yards per carry.

In two games this season — against Keystone (156 yards) and A-C Valley (144) — Gallagher has rushed for more yards than he did all of last season (127).

Union's leading rusher last season, Dylan Shirey, finished with 363 yards.

“I owe a lot to my offensive line,” Gallagher said. “It's the best line I've seen. The biggest, most physical.”

One of his best friends also helped him develop into a more physical back.

Senior running back Eric Seary has been close friends with Dugan and his brother Dylan, a senior tight end/linebacker, since they played peewee ball.

Gallagher and Seary spent a lot of time in the weight room prepping this summer.

Seary said he's noticed a difference with Gallagher's running.

“He's hitting kids harder than he has been,” Seary said. “Since he's gotten bigger, he can handle bigger hits.”

In the opener against Keystone, Gallagher scored both of Union's touchdowns in a 16-8 win. Gallagher has scored three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving).

Seary, who has 82 yards rushing this season, said he focused more on giving Gallagher advice on running hard than showing him how to.

“Eric's a hard runner and said stick to the hole and trust my blocker,” Gallagher said.

In lower levels of football, Gallagher relied primarily on his speed to break long gains.

Union coach Dave Louder said that same approach won't lead to success at the varsity level.

“Dugan's done a good job of sticking to his hole and not trying to break things outside,” Louder said. “In middle school football, a lot of kids break it outside and get a lot of long runs that way.”

Gallagher's hoping that he — and the team — will continue to improve as the weeks go along.

He's hoping that will lead to the Knights' first playoff win as a program.

“We've set a goal to be champions,” Gallagher said. “We've had that goal ever since we lost to Clarion (in the playoffs) last year.”