By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Union City did a couple of good things against top-ranked Trenton Friday night.
Unfortunately for the Tornadoes, they needed to do a whole lot more.
Fullback Justin Wiggins ran for 188 yards behind another workmanlike offensive line effort and the Twisters matched the most points scored by any Trenton opponent this season when they found the endzone twice.
But season-long number-one and reigning Class 2A state champion Peabody was in control from start to finish in handing Union City its third straight loss, a 63-14 setback at War Memorial Stadium.
It would have admittedly taken a perfect performance by the Purple and Gold to match the explosiveness and overall talent of the Tide.
“We played well in spurts, but it doesn’t take but one mistake and we find ourselves in a bad situation,” UC head coach Darren Bowling said. “We had a couple of chances to seize a little momentum – once in the first half when we had scored and were threatening to score again and make it 21-14. But we had a fumbled pitch that took us out of scoring position.
“Then, in the third quarter, we’d scored and recovered an onside, but we couldn’t take advantage of that and failed on fourth down. We still aren’t finishing drives. We’ve stressed it in practice, but we’re still not there.
“And against really good teams like Trenton, you have to take advantage of whatever chances you have whenever you have them.’
Peabody quarterback Cooper Baugus threw for 197 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a fifth score to pace the Tide. Both Eli Hammonds and Noah Halbrook had a pair of TD catches and running back Jerel Dickson rushed for three scores.
Wiggins posted his sixth 100-yard plus rushing game, thanks to the efforts of UC linemen Neil Brown, Carson Corley, DJ Gray, Alex Rodriguez and Carter Bondurant. The Tornadoes ended up with 240 rushing yards in all – below their seasonal average, but more than anybody else has gained against Trenton this season.
“We moved the ball well, I thought, against a really good defensive unit,” Bowling confirmed. “We threatened two other times, and I thought we had the tempo we wanted to have by huddling up and shortening the game.
“We just again had some untimely missed assignments and mistakes. You can’t do that and beat the really good teams.”
Down 21-0 after Peabody had scored on its first possessions, UC got on the scoreboard after Sam Theobald threw a seven-yard TD strike to a darting Wes Tilghman to cap a 10-play drive with 8:23 showing in the second period. Wiggins had his biggest gainer of the night – a 29-yarder – early in the march and a facemask flag against the Tide aided the drive.
The Tornadoes were driving again and reached the Trenton 21 after recovering an onside kick. An errant option pitch cost Union City 11 yards though, and the drive died at the Peabody 20 on downs.
Baugus then threw two TD passes within 11 seconds of each other – a 10-yarder to Hammonds and a 49-yarder to Halbrook after Trenton had recovered an onside kick. It was 35-7 at halftime.
Dickson broke free for his second score, a 56-yard run, on the first snap of the third period.
But UC answered with another 10-play touchdown sequence that saw the hard-charging Wiggins carry on seven of those snaps, including a two-yard dive to paydirt with 6:42 showing in the third. Miguel Sanchez nailed the second of his two PATs to make it 41-14.
Once more the Twisters recovered an onside kick, but made nothing of the opportunity after their ensuing drive ended on fourth down.
Peabody then scored on three straight possesions – once after recovering an onside kick – to account for the final margin.
Now 3-4 overall and 1-2 in Region 7-2A, the Tornadoes continue their way through the rugged part of the schedule by hosting Class 4A Dyersburg next week in their final regular season home game of the year.
“We have great-character kids and I know they’re going to continue to keep working,” Bowling added. “They can see they’re getting better every week, and I know they’ll bounce back from this.
“We’re playing a lot of young, inexperienced kids, but I truly can see us getting better. We have a lot of football still to play, and have a good shot at making the playoffs and making some noise. With a little more consistency, you’re going to see their hard work start showing up in the results on Friday night.”
Tilghman topped the Union City tackle chart vs. Trenton with five stops, while Kyrell Littleton finished with four.
Trenton 63, Union City 14
Trenton 21 14 14 14 — 63
Union City 0 7 7 0 — 14
T — Eli Hammonds 10 pass from Cooper Baugus (Isaiah Hicks kick). 8:44, 1st
T — Jarel Dickson 4 run (Hicks kick). 4:32, 1st
T — Noah Halbrook 36 pass from Baugus (Hicks kick). 1:28, 1st
UC — Wes Tilghman 7 pass from Sam Theobald (Miguel Sanchez kick). 8:23, 2nd
T — Hammonds 10 pass from Baugus (Hicks kick). 2:04, 2nd
T — Halbrook 49 pass from Baugus (Hicks kick). 1:53, 2nd
T — Dickson 3 run (kick failed). 11:53, 3rd
UC — Justin Wiggins 2 run (Miguel Sanchez kick). 6:42, 3rd
T — Dickson 3 run (Baugus run). 0:39, 3rd
T — Baugus 37 run (Hicks kick). 10:29, 4th
T — Drequon Vaughn 16 run (Hicks kick). 6:44, 4th
T UC
Total Offense 440 263
Rush Att.-Yards 18-243 57-240
Comp.-Att.-Int 9-10-0 3-4-0
Passing Yards 197 23
First Downs 17 13
Punts-Avg. — 3-19.3
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties-Yds. 2-25 4-34
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Trenton — Jerel Dickson 10-95, Cooper Baugus 2-93, Jacquez Wilkins 4-33, Drequon Vaughn 1-16, Noah Halbrook 1-6 . Union City — Justin Wiggins 34-188, Sam Theobald 14-35, Wes Tilghman 5-23, Kyrell Littleton 3-5, Team 1-(-11).
PASSING: Trenton — Cooper Baugus 9-10-0—197. Union City — Sam Theobald 3-4-0—23.
RECEIVING: Trenton — Noah Halbrook 5-132, Eli Hammonds 4-65. Union City — Wes Tilghman 2-17, Alexander Cox 1-6.
RECORDS: Trenton 6-0 (3-0); Union City 3-4 (1-2).
NEXT GAME: UC hosts Dyersburg, Friday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m.