By Mike Hutchens
UC Schools Communications Director
Now that Union City officially knows its destination, the Golden Tornadoes can finally make their travel plans.
After a couple of changes in venues and then delays in contract negotiations, UC has a Week 5 football opponent – Penns Grove High School in Carney’s Point Township, New Jersey.
The agreement was finally officially reached today for the contest between the Tornadoes and Red Devils that will be played Saturday, Sept. 22, at noon, eastern time (11 a.m., locally).
The Union City travel party will depart either late Tuesday or early Wednesday of that week for the trip that will take nearly 14 hours and cover over 900 miles.
Team members and school personnel will tour several places of historic reference in nearby Philadelphia, which is reportedly around a half-hour’s drive from Carney’s Point.
The trip will be the fourth in as many years for the Golden Tornado program which has mixed educational value with football in previous journeys to Gettysburg (Pa.), Charleston (S.C) and San Antonio.
UC was left scrambling for a mid-season opponent when Metro-East Lutheran (East St. Louis, Ill.) backed out of its original contract due to having just 12 players. It was then thought that Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School in Chicago would fill the date, but they too, elected to not play.
Enter Penns Grove, which had a game scheduled for that date with an opponent reportedly six hours away.
School officials worked out an agreement to get out of that contract after being contacted by Union City head coach Darren Bowling. UCHS Principal Jacob Cross later got involved in negotiations and the two sides finally came to terms via a faxed contract Tuesday.
The Red Devils went 10-2 with a Group I South Division a year ago and return standout athlete Tyreke Brown and quarterback Kavon Lewis from that team that has back 10 defensive starters and seven on offense.
Brown, a second-team all-stater last year and also a standout wrestler, is a multi-faceted threat who has already signed with Sacred Heart. He piled up more than 1,100 receiving yards and another 600 rushing last season when he scored 30 touchdowns.
Lewis threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 34 TDs as a sophomore in 2017.
Head coach John Emel is in his second stint at the school, having served eight seasons as an assistant coach before leaving. He returned four years ago and is 24-18 during his tenure. The team plays just eight regular season games before the playoffs, though that has been waived this year so that the Red Devils may play a ninth contest, against Union City.
Carney’s Point is a town of around 8,000, according to Emel. The coach said the school has an enrollment of “close to 500” in the top four grades.
Menu
