By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–A mismatch on paper, so too, was Union City and Houston County on the field.
Fourth-ranked UC continued its early-season dominance and handed the Fighting Irish their 18th straight loss with a 56-6 mercy-rule blowout at Erin Friday night.
The Golden Tornadoes did the expected – winning convincingly and handling an outmanned HC squad in every way to improve to 3-0 overall while winning its Region 7-2A opener.
Union City has outscored its three opponents 137-26 and is unbeaten three games into the season for the first time since 2016.
“Sometimes these types of games are trap games, but I thought our kids got off the bus pretty well and came out and executed early,” Twister head coach Nick Markle said. “We knew we were the better team on paper, and we expected to win. But it’s how you win, and we want to win the right way.
“We set the tone early with three big plays defensively on their first three snaps. We thought our defensive line could dominate, and they made several big tackles for losses. And we were up 21-0 before we had a little lull and they got in the endzone. Our kids took that personally, I thought, and we reestablished control.”
It was Tayehari Jones’ night to shine in UC’s multi-weapon backfield, and the sophomore speeder indeed sparkled.
Jones had touchdown runs of 47, 19, 81 and 52 yards and finished his night with 240 yards on just six carries before taking a place on the sideline after the first series of the third quarter due to the lopsided score. Jones, who was untouched on three of his paydirt dashes, had a fifth TD – a 79-yard kickoff return – wiped away by penalty.
“He (Jones) is a weapon, but he’s not our only one,” Markle said. “We want to give guys who are making plays on a particular night the most touches, and we gave Tayehari those chances tonight. Next week, it might be someone else.
“That’s the beauty of this team. We’ll take what is given to us, and our guys all pull hard for each other.”
Jacob Arnold (6 yards), Durrell Littleton (33 yards), Keaten Brown (2 yards) and James Turner (9 yards) all had touchdown scampers as well for a UC offense that rolled up 437 yards on the ground and did not punt.
The Tornado defense was all over the Irish from the get-go with Hayden Moon, Aiden Reid and Jace Rogers throwing HC ballcarriers for losses on the hosts’ first three snaps.
Moon and Rogers – both of whom drew praise from Markle – had the best nights of the Union City defenders. Moon was credited with a pair of sacks, another tackle for a loss and a fumble recovery. Rogers, meanwhile, also camped out regularly in the Houston County backfield and recorded four tackles for minus-yards.
In all, the Twisters tackled HC behind the line on 14 of its 37 snaps.
The Purple and Gold were in command 42-6 at the intermission and played reserves after the first series of the third quarter while the clock ran continuously in the second half.
UC will now turn its attention to homecoming foe Trinity Christian Academy with the Lions set to visit War Memorial Stadium and Randy Barnes Field next week to begin a three-game Tornado homestand.
“Homecoming is for the fans, not the players,” Markle claimed. “Our team will be focused; I can promise you that. They know we must continue to grow in all three phases to get to where we want to go, and I expect us to stay on edge and not get complacent.”
UNION CITY 56, HOUSTON CO. 6
Union City 21 21 14 0 — 56
Houston Co. 0 6 0 0 — 6
UC — Tayehari Jones 47 run (Finn Frankum kick). 8:48, 1st
UC — Jacob Arnold 6 run (Frankum kick) 3:14, 1st
UC — Jones 19 run (Frankum kick) 1:33, 1st
HC — Preston Mitchell 34 pass from Logan Medders (run failed). 9:44, 2nd
UC — Keaten Brown 2 run (Frankum kick) 7:15, 2nd
UC — Durrell Littleton 33 run (Frankum kick) 4:18, 2nd
UC — Jones 81 run (Frankum kick). 2:20, 2nd
UC — Jones 52 run (Frankum kick) 9:22, 3rd
UC — James Turner 9 run (Frankum kick) 5:15, 3rd
UC HC
Total Offense 437 83
Rush Att.-Yards 30-437 32-30
Comp.-Att.-Int 0-1-0 2-5-0
First Downs 13 5
Punts-Avg. — 3-37.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 7-65 2-10
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Tayehari Jones 6-240, Jacob Arnold 8-54, Kolby Craig 1-34, Durrell Littleton 1-33, Gage Smith 4-29, Owen Waggoner 2-22, Kirben Thompson 2-12, James Turner 2-9, Cohen Wood 1-2, Keaten Brown 2-1, Deyton Buckley 1-1. Houston County — Alexis Torres 15-20, Logan Medders 6-18, Preston Mitchell 6-16, Ethan Sherrod 2-1, Brennan Ramirez 6-(-14), Grayson Pate 1-(-11).
PASSING: Union City — None. Houston County — Logan Medders 2-4-0—53, Grayson Pate 0-1-0—0.
RECEIVING: Union City — None. Houston County — Preston Mitchell 1-34, Grayson Pate 1-19.
RECORDS: Union City 3-0 (1-0); Houston Co. 0-3 (0-1)
NEXT GAME: UC hosts TCA Friday, Sept. 9, for Homecoming.