By Mike Hutchens
Union City Schools Communications Director
Union City made good use of another week of practice.
The Golden Tornadoes showed marked improvement defensively and were again steady on offense in their second preseason scrimmage Thursday, outscoring Class 5A Munford 34-21.
Both the effort and results were better than last week when the reigning Class 2A state champions had an uneven three-way outing against Waverly and Wayne County.
Another week of physical practices and settling into a normal routine after a grueling four days of camp at Columbia, though, helped UC take a step in the right direction as it prepares for its 2018 season opener at Mayfield, Aug. 17.
“Number-one, I was really proud of the effort,” head coach Darren Bowling told his troops after the 2 ½-hour session against the Cougars Thursday. “We might not have the numbers we’d like this year, but we still have to go all-out for four quarters. Nothing will change with what we do or what we expect.
“Defensively, we were outstanding. We got some stops (four) and forced some turnovers (three), but what I liked most is that we flew to the football. We went fast. That’s how we have to play to make things happen and get the ball back to our offense.”
All three Munford TDs came on runs of 50 yards or longer and the Cougars — who won nine games last season, but lost 26 seniors off that team — never mounted a sustained drive against the Union City defense.
On offense, fullback Kaleb Craig had another solid day with a 71-yard touchdown on the scrimmage’s third play and then another score on a second-effort plunge near the goal line for the Purple and Gold. Quarterback Conner Hurt ran for a TD on a keeper and hooked up with Kaylon McLendon on a 60-yard touchdown pass.
Wes Tilghman took a pitch from Hurt and scored Union City’s fifth TD after ripping off a big run earlier in the drive.
Austin Atwill was 4-of-5 on PAT kicks.
The Twister second-teamers and freshmen saw extensive action too, scoring twice against their Munford counterparts.
Jayvon Westbrooks and Tilghman both found the endzone behind good offensive line play to cap methodical UC drives. Fullback Alexander Cox had several good runs during the two sequences.
Union City will have a final tune-up prior to its season opener Friday, Aug. 10, facing perennial Class 4A power Haywood in the Dyersburg Jamboree.
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