By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–You simply can’t measure heart.
Outsized, out-athleted and burdened by the unexpected death of a special fan earlier in the week, Union City drew strength from the ultimate immeasurable trait to beat Ripley 42-41 in a double-overtime thriller Friday night at Tiny Knee Stadium.
Kyrell Littleton’s fourth-down two-yard touchdown run in the second extra session and the last of Miguel Sanchez’s six straight PATs made the Golden Tornadoes a winner for the fifth time in sixth games this season and for the third consecutive week on the road.
Afterward, UC head coach Nick Markle fought back emotions while referencing Parker Vowell ‑‑ a special needs Purple and Gold fan who passed away suddenly on Wednesday – and his team’s performance.
“I was really close to Parker. He loved Union City Schools and our guys,” Markle said. “We wore his initials on our helmets tonight, and I wore one of the decals on the inside of my hat. He was just special in a lot of ways. He was our No. 1 fan, and we had a No. 1 jersey on our bench in honor of him.
“This win was for him.”
UC displayed a combination of grit, fortitude and perseverance to rally from behind on four different occasions in winning by eight points or less for the fourth time this season.
They beat a Class 3A Tiger squad that certainly passed the “eyeball test,” and had started the season 3-0 before falling to 4A Jackson Northside and giving second-ranked Covington a close game last week.
“We definitely weren’t the fastest or biggest team, but our guys have so much heart,” Markle continued. “In fact, heart has won us three or four games this year. We never give up. We never quit.
“I believe that speaks well for our young men for both now and for when times get hard in their lives down the road. They just don’t have any quit in them.”
None of UC’s previous narrow victories was this close, as evidenced by the final score and that the two teams were separated by just one total yard in the box score.
The Tornadoes rallied from deficits of 6-0, 14-7, 21-14 and 28-21, forcing overtime when Gage Smith bowled into the endzone from the two for the last of his three TDs with 2:41 left in regulation to make it 28-all.
Littleton ran for 142 yards and another TD, while Smith carried for 93 yards and three scores for the Twisters. Sanchez was a true difference-maker with a 6-for-6 PAT performance and has now made 23-of-25 for the season.
Quarterback Jackson Chism scooted for Union City’s first overtime touchdown on a fourth-down keeper and guided a Tornado offense that turned the ball over just once in the contest.
Defensively, despite giving up a season-high point total, there were noteworthy stats.
Smith had a team-high 12 tackles while Littleton was in on 11. Hayden Kennedy had nine total stops and joined Jacob Arnold and Hayden Moon with two tackles apiece for lost yards. Smith, Littleton and Carter Bondurant all had QB sacks.
Union City lost the overtime coin-toss and had to play offense first but converted when Chism darted to paydirt from the four on the final down of the sequence from the 10-yard line. Ripley immediately answered to make it 35 apiece and then got the ball first to begin the second OT.
The Tigers punched it in on fourth down from the one but tried a fake on the ensuing point-after that was no good when holder Jack Hearn tossed an incomplete pass.
That left the door open for the Twisters, who pounded the left side of the line behind center Bondurant and guard Kennedy for the final two yards to the endzone.
Sanchez then calmly booted the point-after to set off a postgame UC celebration.
“Now that we’ve been in a few of these (close games), our kids don’t panic. They don’t waver or blink,” Markle concluded. “They were actually a little mad at me at the end of regulation when we didn’t go for two and try to win the game then.
“It’s really difficult for teams to stop us from getting 10 yards in four downs with what we do. We might not get them all in one play, but we continue to grind and pound. We got just enough movement and Kyrell fought hard for those last few inches.
“And Miguel has just been solid for us all year. It’s nice to have a special teams weapon like him and not worry about having to come up with something different to do after every touchdown.”
Next up for Union City is a Region 7-2A home showdown against fourth-ranked Westview (5-1) next week.
UNION CITY 42, RIPLEY 41 (2OT)
Union City 7 7 7 7 7 7 — 42
Ripley 14 0 7 7 7 6 — 41
SCORING
R — Donelle Barbee 23 run (pass failed) 9:07 1st
UC — Gage Smith 11 run (Miguel Sanchez kick) 3:31, 1st
R — Jordan Glass 17 run (Glass pass from Jack Hearn) 0:44 1st
UC — Kyrell Littleton 5 run (Sanchez kick) 2:36, 2nd
R — Glass 9 run (Tannor Hendrix kick) 6:09 3rd
UC — Smith 4 run (Sanchez kick) 2:58, 3rd
R — Terrance Edler 60 pass from Hearn (Hendrix kick) 7:03 4th
UC — Smith 2 run (Sanchez kick) 2:41, 4th
UC — Jackson Chism 4 run (Sanchez kick) 1st OT
R — Edler 6 run (Hendrix kick) 1st OT
R — Taylor Carney 1 run ((pass failed) 2nd OT
UC — Littleton 2 run (Sanchez kick) 2nd OT
UC R
Total Offense 292 293
Rush Att.-Yards 58-292 47-174
Comp.-Att.-Int 0-4-0 6-15-0
Passing Yards 0 119
First Downs 14 14
Punts-Avg. 1-30 2-27.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-Yds. 6-60 7-50
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Kyrell Littleton 20-142, Gage Smith 22-93, Kolby Craig 7-25, Jackson Chism 7-19, Tayehari Jones 2-13. Ripley — Donelle Barbee 12-89, Terrance Edler 10-54, Jordan Glass 10-48, Turner Crowder 6-23, Terrance Hunter 1-3, Taylor Carney 1-1, J.T. Taliaferro 2-(-5), Josh Hearn 1-(-12), Jack Hearn 4-(-22).
PASSING: Union City — Jackson Chism 0-4-0 – 0. Ripley — Jack Hearn 6-15-0 — 119.
RECEIVING: Union City — None. Ripley — Terrance Edler 3-80, Taylor Markham 2-25, Terrance Hunter 1-14.
RECORDS: Union City 5-1; Ripley 3-3.
NEXT GAME: UC plays host to Westview (5-1), Friday night at 7.