By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Football Homecoming 2019 couldn’t have gone much better for Union City.
The 10th-ranked Golden Tornadoes scored on seven of eight possessions, sported a spirited second-half defensive effort and even completed their first three passes of the season in their 15th consecutive homecoming game triumph – a 56-6 mercy-rule drubbing of out-manned Booker T. Washington Friday night.
Winners of three straight now – all at home – UC (3-1, 1-0 in Region 7-2A) hits the road next week for a critical league game against Gibson County, which sports the same marks as the Purple and Gold.
Fullback Justin Wiggins posted his fourth straight game of 145 or more rushing yards behind a dominating offensive line, running for 184 yards on 29 carries and scoring four more touchdowns. Wiggins now has 715 yards and 13 TDs in the first month of the season.
More surprisingly, the Tornadoes showed off another offensive dimension as quarterback Sam Theobald completed 3-of-4 passes for 66 yards – two to Wes Tilghman, the other to Jonathan Stone – each connection contributing to TD marches.
And after senior Caroline Conley was crowned Homecoming Queen at halftime ceremonies, a jacked-up UC defense came out with new-found intensity and held the visiting Memphians to just 25 total yards in the second half while throwing the Warriors for losses on eight different plays.
“It was about as good a game as you can have on a homecoming,” UC head coach Darren Bowling said after watching his squad dominate in all areas. “Offensively, I thought we clicked the whole game. I was a little disappointed in the way we played on defense in the first half, even though we only gave up one score.
“But we made a couple of adjustments at the half, and played with a lot more heart and aggressiveness in the second half. And I believe that was the jump-start we needed to open the game up quickly like we did in the third quarter.
“As far as the passing goes, we’ve always said that’s something we keep in our hip-pocket. If teams continue to load the box against us, we feel comfortable throwing it around a little. We have a quarterback (Theobald) who can throw it, and several receivers who can catch it and then make plays after they do. It (throwing the ball) is not something we’re afraid to do – we just don’t do it much when we’re rushing for 300 yards a game.”
Union City indeed accumulated more than 300 yards on the ground for the fourth time in as many outings this season. The Tornadoes averaged over eight yards-per-carry and racked up 18 first downs while never punting for the third time in four games.
Defensively, UC limited BTW to just 115 total yards and got a pick-6 from Theobald, who carried one of two interceptions back to paydirt on a 26-yard return. Travon Westbrook had the other interception and Alex Rodriguez came up with a fumble recovery as the Twisters won the turnover battle 3-0.
Carson Corley and Alexander Cox were ball-hawks on defense, topping the tackle chart with eight stops apiece. Neil Brown and Westbrook were in on seven hits each, with Brown and Kevin VanBrocklin both recording a pair of tackles for lost yards.
Wiggins had short scoring runs of 5, 4, 2 and 4 yards in succession from late in the first period until the early stages of the second half.
Kyrell Littleton opened the scoring for Union City with a 20-yard TD scamper, and Tilghman (13 yards) and Westbrook (28 yards) also found the endzone for the Tornadoes in the final frame.
Freshman placekicker Miguel Sanchez made all eight of his extra-point attempts and now has drilled 19 in a row since an early Week 2 miss.
“We’re still a work in progress, but I feel like we’re getting a little bit better every week,” Bowling continued. “I really like how we got after them in the second half on defense. Kids were flying around to the football, we were getting a lot of hats to the ball, and the kids were excited to make plays on that side of the ball.”
The coach admitted the schedule would get considerably tougher in the next month, starting with Gibson County next week. The Twisters then have 4A Jackson Side, No. 1 ranked and defending 2A state champion Trenton, and state-ranked (4A) Dyersburg in succession.
“We know what the schedule is and we’re just going to take them one at a time,” Bowling said. “Obviously, Gibson County is the most important game, because it’s the next game and it’s a region game. We could really take a big step toward getting into the postseason if we could beat them.
“And I certainly hope we can take our folks on the road with us. We had a good homecoming crowd tonight and our student body and Pep Club have been just awesome in the last three games at home. They fire up our guys, and we feed off that emotion a little bit.”
Union City improved to 65-15-1 all-time in homecoming games.
Joining Conley in the court were senior princesses Sydney Johnson and Haley Thomas, junior princess Erin Gill, sophomore princess Kamia Cross and freshman princess Reagan Durkee.
Union City 56, B.T. Washington 6
B.T. Washington 6 0 0 0 — 6
Union City 14 14 14 14 — 56
UC — Kyrell Littleton 20 run (Miquel Sanchez kick). 8:17, 1st
UC — Justin Wiggins 5 run (Sanchez kick). 3:35, 1st
BTW — Tejarvins Nelson 2 run (kick failed). 0:04, 1st
UC — Wiggins 4 run (Sanchez kick). 9:46, 2nd
UC — Wiggins 2 run (Sanchez kick). 0:36, 2nd
UC — Wiggins 4 run (Sanchez kick). 9:39, 3rd
UC — Theobald 26 interception return (Sanchez kick). 8:25, 3rd
UC — Wes Tilghman 13 run (Sanchez kick). 11:27, 4th
UC — Travon Westbrook 28 run (Sanchez kick). 5:58, 4th
BTW UC
Total Offense 115 409
Rush Att.-Yards 34-58 43-343
Comp.-Att.-Int 5-13-2 3-4-0
Passing Yards 57 66
First Downs 8 18
Punts-Avg. 2-27.0 —
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 4-40 5-67
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: B.T. Washington — TeJarvis Nelson 5-28, Cameron Keys 8-21, Dionte Sharp 6-19, Anterrius Valentine 2-4, Perreon Gates 2-2, Mariel Bolden 2-(-2), Team 1-(-2), Terrion Fennell 1-(-4), Brandon Boyd 7-(-8). Union City — Justin Wiggins 29-184, Sam Theobald 5-62, Travon Westbrook 2-47, Wes Tilghman 4-27, Kyrell Littleton 2-25, Team 1-(-2),
PASSING: B.T. Washington — TeJarvis Nelson 3-8-0—31, Brandon Boyd 1-3-1—14, Mariel Bolden 1-2-1—12. Union City — Sam Theobald 3-4-0—0.
RECEIVING: B.T. Washington — Perreon Gates 3-31, Cameron Keys 1-14, Anterrius Valentine 1-12. Union City — Wes Tilghman 2-41, Jonathan Stone 1-25.
RECORDS: B.T. Washington 1-2; Union City 3-1.
NEXT GAME: UC plays at Gibson County, Friday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m.
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