By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–A season-ending 35-0 loss to fourth-ranked Trenton in the Class 2A quarterfinals Friday had a natural stinging effect on those two dozen Union City players who dressed and made it to the end of the season.
In retrospect though, the Tornadoes’ campaign – that ended with a 7-6 record – should be celebrated.
UC – which won six of seven games after a 1-4 start heading into Friday’s rematch vs. Peabody ‑ was ravaged by injuries throughout the season. In fact 15 players on the 39-man roster did not dress in Friday’s finale, most all due to various ailments and post-operation rehabilitation.
Figure into the equation that it was one of the Twisters’ smallest and least-athletic squads in recent years, that the Purple and Gold survived all that and a brutal schedule while making it to Round 8 was a major accomplishment.
“I think this group of seniors went above and beyond,” said veteran head coach Darren Bowling, who directed the gritty bunch to at least the quarterfinals for the fifth time in the last six seasons – including three state title campaigns. “They went above the expectations people had of them, but not necessarily their own expectations.
“Their own expectations were lofty coming into the season and remained that way, no matter who got injured. They just came out to practice every Monday – no matter who went down the Friday before – and went to work. They kept believing. And they came in here tonight against an outstanding Trenton team believing they could and would win.
“I’m proud to be their coach.”
Grit and determination wasn’t nearly enough, though, to beat a talented Peabody bunch that had already defeated UC 56-14 in a contest 10 weeks earlier.
The Tide (12-1) big played Union City with four of their five touchdowns coming on snaps covering 50 yards or longer – including a 68-yard run by Noah Halbrook on the game’s first play. Trenton averaged 16 yards-per-carry on 21 rushes, led by Jacquez Wilkins, who ran for 142 yards on just four attempts, with second-half TDs covering 54 and 74 yards to salt the game away.
The Tornadoes had their chances to at least make Peabody uncomfortable, but saw drives stall on downs at the Tide 23, 18 and 33, while also missing a short field goal after reaching the hosts’ nine yard-line.
“We had opportunities. But we just couldn’t ever get any momentum. When you play a team like them (Trenton), you have to get some momentum and get them on their heels,” Bowling added.
UC gave the Trenton difference a different look at times, lining up workhorse fullback Kaleb Craig at tailback in the I-formation and moving versatile Jay Ramsey to fullback. The scheme worked well at times with Craig snagging option pitches from Conner Hurt and picking up big yards on a handful of plays and Ramsey running for 52 yards on nine carries.
At the end of drives, the Tide defense stiffened however, especially on fourth-down-and-short.
Craig, nonetheless, ended up with 131 yards on 21 carries – his 11th 100 yard-plus rushing game of a spectacular year that saw him post the second-best individual season in UCHS history with 2,165 yards.
“Kaleb is a football player. A football player,” Bowling said, repeating himself while praising Craig. “He understands the game and has that ‘it’ factor. He’s hard to tackle, he was hard to block when playing defense. He played with great heart and through injury and pain all season.
“For him to have as many yards as he did was a major feat – just because teams knew he was going to get the ball and we didn’t have the size we usually have up front. Those guys in the line did a great, great job, though, and they share in his accomplishments.
“Tonight, we moved him around a little because we knew Peabody would take him out at fullback. We knew they’d try to make us go to the quarterback-pitch option, so our play was to pitch it to him and let him go. It was a good plan, but with three days to work it in, we didn’t have the time to work on some counter-adjustments after Trenton had adjusted its defense.”
Tide QB Cooper Baugus had a 59-yard scoring burst and Jarel Dickson tacked on a 15-yard TD as Peabody scored twice in the final five minutes of the first half to open a 21-0 lead.
Wilkins’ aforementioned touchdowns came late in the third quarter and early in the fourth.
The contest in a UCHS uniform marked the last one for seniors Craig, Ramsey, Hurt, Kaylon McClendon, Austin Atwill and Conner Terrell. A couple of their classmates – Preston Little and Jackson Whaley – were injured during the regular season and could not suit up for the finale.
“Those guys gave us their all,” Bowling concluded. “People like Jay Ramsey, who played a number of positions because of injuries and was selfless, but still led us in tackles. Conner Hurt came back from a broken arm when many other players would’ve just packed it in, and Conner Terrell came back to our program and played through an injury to have a really good year.
“Kaylon (McClendon) did a lot of things for us on both sides of the ball, and (Austin) Atwill joined our program just this year and made a lot of extra points for us.
“It really was a good group of seniors.”
Trenton 35, Union City 0
Union City 0 0 0 0 — 0
Trenton 7 14 7 7 — 35
SCORING
T — Noah Halbrook 68 run (Isaiah Hicks kick). 11:46, 1st
T — Cooper Baugus 59 run (Hicks kick). 5:00, 2nd
T — Jarel Dickson 15 run (Hicks kick) 1:22, 2nd
T — Jazquez Wilkins 54 run (Hicks kick). 3:18, 3rd
T — Wilkins 74 run (Hicks kick). 9:54, 4th
UC T
Total Offense 228 412
Rush Att.-Yards 50-228 21-348
Comp.-Att.-Int 0-0-0 4-5-0
Passing Yards 0 64
First Downs 10 9
Punts-Avg. 2-29.0 1-13
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 2-2
Penalties-Yds. 5-25 2-10
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Kaleb Craig 21-131, Jay Ramsey 12-52, Conner Hurt 15-26, Travon Westbrook 3-19, Trenton — Jacquez Wilkins 4-142, Cooper Baugus 7-96, Noah Halbrook 4-88, Jerel Dickson 5-20, Desmond Tyler 1-2.
PASSING: Union City — None. Trenton — Cooper Baugus 4-5-0 — 64.
RECEIVING: Union City — None. Trenton — Eli Hammonds 2-49, Noah Halbrook 1-8, Bryce Franks 1-7
RECORDS: Union City 7-6; Trenton 12-1.
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