By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–With the table set beforehand, Union City dined in style.
Needing only to beat cellar-dwelling Halls to secure a second-place Region 7-2A finish and a first-round home playoff game, UC impressively took care of business by mercy-ruling the homestanding Tigers 49-0 Friday night.
The lopsided victory means the Golden Tornadoes (5-5) claim a runner-up league finish (via a tie-breaker edge over Trinity Christian Academy and Gibson County, both of whom they earlier defeated) and the host rights perk for Round 1 of the postseason next week.
Union City will play Frederick Douglass of Memphis (4-6) — an opponent that gave it fits last year in Round 2 before falling 44-30 – in its opening round game at War Memorial Stadium.
The Purple and Gold bounced back from a disappointing showing against McKenzie last week, knowing before the contest began that a triumph would improve their standing heading into the playoffs after Lake County had drubbed TCA on Thursday night.
Conner Hurt, starting at quarterback for the first time since breaking his arm in Week 2, ran for touchdowns covering 32 and nine yards and tossed a 15-yard pass to Kaylon McLendon for a third score to lead a Twister offense that scored on six of its seven first-half possessions against Halls.
Hurt, who returned to action on defense in Week 7 against TCA and saw action at tailback the last couple of weeks offensively, piloted a Union City attack that was back in its double-slot alignment after spending all of last season and most of the first nine games this year in the I-formation.
His presence under center certainly helped a Tornado offense that was sluggish at best last week.
“Having our starting quarterback back obviously helped,” UC head coach Darren Bowling said afterward. “Conner’s gradually gotten healthy and told me at the start of practice last week that he was ready to take some snaps again. He ran the ball strong and threw it well on the couple of occasions when we asked him to.
“And getting back in the double-slot was important too. It is what our guys are most comfortable in and it certainly makes teams have to defend us differently.”
Attacking the flanks regularly in the first half with carries by Hurt and slots Wes Tilghman and Travon Westbrook, the Tornadoes had four rushing plays of 30 yards or more while Halls stacked the inside to stop noted fullback Kaleb Craig, who came in with nearly 1,500 yards on the ground.
Tilghman sped 49 yards to paydirt on UC’s third snap, and Hurt had a 32-yard scoring jaunt to cap the Twisters’ second possession. A 28-yard pass from Hurt to Tilghman set up Hurt’s second score and made it 21-0 before the first quarter was over.
Union City put up three more TDs in the second frame to take a commanding 42-0 halftime lead.
Tilghman scored on a four-yard run, a rolled-out Hurt hooked up with McLendon for a score and Craig – who carried just four times all night – bulled his way over two tacklers on his way to a 49-yard touchdown just before the half.
Austin Atwill was a perfect 7-for-7 in PATs, the last of those coming after Westbrook’s 41-yard TD romp halfway through the fourth quarter.
The clock ran continuously in the second half, via the mercy rule.
“I was pleased that we came out and didn’t let them hang around after the opening kick,” Bowling added. “We struck fast, and our defense gave us some great field position by coming up with some turnovers.”
The Tornado defense was, in fact, just as dominant as the Union City offense, recovering four fumbles – two by Carson Corley. Sam Theobald and Jay Ramsey also had recoveries for a unit that recorded 12 tackles behind the line and limited Halls to just 62 total yards.
Craig topped the winners’ tackle chart with eight stops, while Tilghman was credited with 6 ½ hits. Ramsey and Justin Wiggins were in on a half-dozen tackles apiece, while Alex Rodriguez had five. Neil Brown recorded two stops for lost yards.
Almost immediately after the post-game huddle broke, Bowling turned his attention to the “second season.”
“It’s been a trying regular season for us with playing such a difficult schedule and having so many injuries,” insisted the coach, whose team has lost to a pair of undefeated teams (Mayfield, Ky., and Penns Grove, N.J.) and two 9-1 squads (Trenton and Jackson South Side). “We’ve certainly battled our share of adversity, but I think we’re a better team because of it.
“And right now it’s one week at a time. It’s what the playoffs are all about. We’ll play with who we have and I expect us to play well.”
Union City 49, Halls 0
Union City 21 21 0 7 — 49
Halls 0 0 0 0 — 0
SCORING
UC — Wes Tilghman 49 run (Austin Atwill kick). 10:09, 1st
UC — Conner Hurt 32 run (Atwill kick). 4:08, 1st
UC — Hurt 9 run (Atwill kick) 1:35, 1st
UC — Tilghman 4 run (Atwill kick). 10:54, 2nd
UC — Kaylon McLendon 15 pass from Hurt (Atwill kick). 8:14, 2nd
UC — Kaleb Craig 49 run (Atwill kick). 2:16, 2nd
UC — Travon Westbrook 41 run (Atwill kick). 6:30, 4th
UC H
Total Offense 289 62
Rush Att.-Yards 24-246 34-12
Comp.-Att.-Int 2-3-0 5-7-0
Passing Yards 43 50
First Downs 8 6
Punts-Avg. 2-28.0 4-15.7
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 7-4
Penalties-Yds. 5-30 2-10
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Travon Westbrook 6-77, Kaleb Craig 4-59, Wes Tilghman 6-56, Conner Hurt 6-51, Sam Theobald 1-4, Jay Ramsey 1-(-1). Halls — Brennan Seidel 11-20, Sam Cannon 5-21, Chandler Nichols 6-9, Marc Parr 6-(3), Taylor Long 1-(-4), Cyrus McCammon 1-(-6), Logan Rogers 4-(-25).
PASSING: Union City — Conner Hurt 2-2-0 — 43, Sam Theobald 0-1-0 — 0. Halls — Logan Rogers 5-7-0 — 50.
RECEIVING: Union City — Wes Tilghman 1-28, Kaylon McLendon 15. Halls — Justin Moore 2-17, Chandler Nichols 1-30, Dalton England 1-4, Sam Cannon 1-(-1).
RECORDS: Union City 5-5 (4-2); Halls 2-8 (0-6).
NEXT GAME: UC plays at host to Douglass (4-6) in Round 1 of the Class 2A state playoffs next Friday night at 7.
