By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–One game at a time.
Refusing to look ahead or past an overmatched Gibson County team, third-ranked Union City did the expected in a 55-18 romp over the Pioneers Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.
Keaten Brown ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more scores, while Tayehari Jones ran for 179 yards on just four carries and also returned an interception for a TD as the Tornadoes essentially had the game in hand with a 49-0 halftime lead.
Now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in Region 7-2A play, UC begins the second half of the season against a big and athletic 4A Ripley team next week with always-tough league rivals Westview and Huntingdon on the horizon.
It was first things first for the Purple and Gold Friday, though, and the Twisters were clearly focused on the task at hand against a GC bunch that had been shut out in its two previous games.
Union City scored in all three phases – offense, defense, and special teams – rolling up 452 yards in the first half alone while limiting the Pioneers to just 21 yards.
Only a lost red-zone fumble and a handful of penalties kept the Tornadoes’ performance from being categorized as perfect.
“‘Focused’ is a good word,” UC head coach Nick Markle said. “I was a little hesitant about how we might perform because we weren’t in school today. It is always a concern when you’re out of routine.
“But our guys showed up ready to play. They were locked in and played well in all three phases. They started fast and kept their foot on the gas. They really wanted to win and wanted to do it in the right way.
“And I truly believe you can trace that to our senior leadership – and even some extent, to our junior leadership. It’s a great core group that sets the tone for us every week. They have expectations of winning.”
The Twisters were clearly the better team from the opening kickoff. They wasted no time asserting themselves before their starters spent the entire second half on the sidelines watching the mercy-rule clock that was reduced to eight minutes in both the third and fourth quarters.
It took Union City just five snaps to score after receiving the opening kickoff, with Brown capping a 53-yard march with a 12-yard keeper into the endzone with just 2 ½ minutes having elapsed.
Brown connected with Kolby Craig on a pretty pitch-and-catch deep ball that covered 35 yards for another score on the Tornadoes’ second possession, and the rout was essentially on.
Jacob Arnold’s 15-yard TD romp ignited a 35-point second quarter. Brown then had another 12-yard touchdown keeper before Jones stepped in front of an Aiden Webb pass and darted 44 yards to paydirt to make it 28-0 after Finn Frankum’s PAT.
UC then scored twice more in the final three minutes before the intermission – the first on Jones’ 92-yard sprint and the second when Arnold turned a simple 5-yard reception from Brown into a 66-yard touchdown on the final play of the half.
The Twister defense was equally dominant over the first two periods, allowing just one net yard on Gibson County’s first five possessions.
Arnold, Gage Smith and Aiden Reid had seven stops each to top the Union City tackle chart. The victors had eight hits for minus-yardage, with Brown and Durrell Littleton recording two.
“I felt like we were clearly the better team coming into the game, but we knew they had some playmakers that could give us some problems,” Markle added. “I thought we did a great job taking them away right from the initial series.
“I was pleased that we were able to have some success in our passing game, too. We have a pretty good little package, but there’s not been a lot of reason to throw the ball because we’ve run it so well to this point. I think we showed tonight, though, that if you load the box (against the run), we can throw it over your head. And if you loosen it up to defend that, we’ll run it on you.”
Gibson County’s starting offense scored three times against Tornado reserves in the second half to break a 10-quarter scoreless streak. DJ Smith had a pair of TD receptions for the Pioneers, who fell to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the region.
UC’s final TD came when Craig rambled 82 yards with a kickoff return early in the final frame. The Twisters snapped the ball offensively just three times in the second half.
Almost immediately afterward, Markle turned his attention to Union City’s second-half schedule.
“We’ve played some good teams already. We faced a Covington bunch in the jamboree that has speed and size, we saw a Lake County team with several dynamic playmakers, and we’ve played a very-good USJ team that was disciplined and had great schemes,” he said.
“I think those games have prepared us for athletic teams and for big teams. We just have to keep putting what we practice into form. If we continue to hold onto the football and play good defense, we’re a tough task for people.”
UNION CITY 55, GIBSON CO. 18
Gibson Co. 0 0 6 12 — 18
Union City 14 35 0 6 — 55
UC — Keaten Brown 12 run (Finn Frankum kick) 9:33, 1st
UC — Kolby Craig 35 pass from Brown (Frankum kick) 7:10, 1st
UC — Jacob Arnold 15 run (Frankum kick) 10:59, 2nd
UC — Brown 12 run (Frankum kick) 7:29, 2nd
UC — Tayehari Jones 44 interception return (Frankum kick) 6:21, 2nd
UC — Jones 92 run (Frankum kick) 2:58, 2nd
UC — Arnold 66 pass from Brown (Frankum kick) 0:00, 2nd
GC — Aiden Webb 13 run (run failed) 5:08, 3rd
GC — DJ Smith 34 pass from Webb (pass failed) 7:07, 4th
UC — Craig 82 kickoff return (kick failed) 6:30, 4th
GC — Smith 42 pass from Webb (kick failed) 1:19, 4th
GC UC
Total Offense 198 463
Rush Att.-Yards 29-125 25-362
Passing Yards 73 101
Comp.-Att.-Int 4-9-1 2-2-0
First Downs 10 13
Punts-Avg. 5-31.6 1-44
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 5-25 9-73
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Gibson Co. Jeremiah Bonds 11-56, Aiden Webb 7-45, DJ Smith 1-14, Jay Allen 7-11, Noah Isbell 2-2, Colton Lumpkin 1-1. Union City — Tayehari Jones 4-179, Jacob Arnold 9-79, Keaten Brown 5-47, Gage Smith 2-17, Kolby Craig 1-16, Durrell Littleton 1-13, Kirben Thompson 2-9, Owen Waggoner 1-2.
PASSING: Gibson Co. — Aiden Webb 2-4-1 – 76, Colton Lumpkin 2-5-0 – (-4). Union City — Keaten Brown 2-2-0—101.
RECEIVING: Gibson Co. — DJ Smith 3-77, Jay Allen 1-(-4). Union City — Jacob Arnold 1-66, Kolby Craig 1-35.
RECORDS: Gibson Co. 1-4 (0-2), Union City 5-0 (2-0).
NEXT GAME: UC hosts Ripley, Friday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m.