By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–As expected, it didn’t take long for Union City to put away Liberty Tech.
Cohen Simpson’s interception return for a touchdown less than a minute into the game began a 34-point first-quarter barrage, and the Golden Tornadoes then cruised to a 48-8 victory in Jackson Friday night.
The ninth-ranked Purple and Gold did the expected against the winless Crusaders, setting in motion a running clock in the second quarter in a contest that was shortened to 10-minute quarters after the intermission.
Five different Twisters rushed for touchdowns, and UC reserves and freshmen played exclusively in the second half.
“This was a game where we just wanted to handle business early and get out injury-free… and we did,” Union City head coach Nick Markle said. “It’s always important to get on teams like this early and to win the right way. We did that.
“I was also glad to get our young guys a lot of reps. That was also part of the plan, and it’s important because they’ve worked extremely hard all year in practice. They got in the endzone, and it was good to see them excited about that and to also see our upperclassmen be happy for them.”
Keaten Brown, Jacob Arnold, Gage Smith and Aiden Reid all had rushing TDs in the opening period for the Tornadoes after Simpson stepped in front of a Reshaun Williams aerial on the game’s third snap and darted 35 yards to paydirt.
Arnold went over 1,000 yards for the season with his 36-yard scoring scamper that made it 20-0, while a Hayden Kennedy fumble recovery deep in Crusader territory set up Smith’s 3-yard touchdown dive. Kolby Craig’s 31-yard punt return positioned the freshman Reid for his first varsity score on a 35-yard dash.
Craig tacked on the Twisters’ last first-half TD on a weaving 17-yard run two minutes before the intermission.
The first-half dominance extended to the defensive side of the ball for UC, too, as an anemic Crusader offense that now has scored one touchdown or less in seven of its nine games did not make a first down. LT, in fact, was in the red – minus one yard on 23 offensive snaps — over the first two periods.
Jayce Rogers led a unit that had seven stops behind the line with five tackles. Smith was credited with four.
“They packed the box on us, but I thought we did a good job handling the odd looks they gave us defensively,” Markle added. “When they had the ball, we got a lot of hats around them and essentially made them one dimensional because they couldn’t run it.”
Freshman quarterback Kirben Thompson scooted 48 yards to set up his own three-yard TD run on the Tornadoes’ opening possession of the third stanza to complete Union City’s scoring.
Finn Frankum tacked on the point-after, his sixth in a row after missing his first extra point.
Liberty, which totaled just 67 yards in the contest, got on the board with less than two minutes remaining to avoid its fifth shutout of the season.
A Senior Night Region 7-2A home showdown against seventh-ranked Huntingdon will close out UC’s regular season next week, with the winner earning a first-round home game in the playoffs.
Markle expects the matchup to be one worthy of the price of admission.
“We won’t do anything special, and I’m sure Huntingdon won’t either,” the coach concluded. “We’re just two good football teams who like to play physical and we’ll line up and run right at each other.
“It should be really fun.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
UNION CITY 48, LIBERTY TECH 8
Union City 34 7 7 0 — 48
Liberty Tech 0 0 0 8 — 8
UC — Cohen Simpson 35 interception return (kick failed). 11:04, 1st
UC — Keaten Brown 11 run (Finn Frankum kick) 6:04, 1st
UC — Jacob Arnold 36 run (Frankum kick) 3:00, 1st
UC — Gage Smith 3 run (Frankum kick) 1:49, 1st
UC — Aiden Reid 35 run (Frankum kick). 0:18, 1st
UC — Kolby Craig 17 run (Frankum kick) 2:01, 2nd
UC — Kirben Thompson 3 run (Frankum kick) 5:47, 3rd
LT — Devon Nappier-Smith 27 pass from Reshaun Williamson (Lathon Greer run) 1:37, 4th
UC LT
Total Offense 292 67
Rush Att.-Yards 26-292 12-(-22)
Comp.-Att.-Int 0-2-1 10-22-1
First Downs 0 89
Punts-Avg. — 3-29.0
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 3-2
Penalties-Yds. 4-40 5-40
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Jacob Arnold 5-79, Kirben Thompson 6-60, Keaten Brown 5-43, Aiden Reid 2-38, Tayehari Jones 2-34, Kolby Craig 2-25, Cohen Wood 1-6, Gage Smith 1-3, Jaylen Marshall 1-2, Kendyn Moss 1-2. Liberty Tech — Lathon Greer 8-1, Reshaun Williamson 2-(3), Rodney Cole 1-(-4), Team 1-(-16).
PASSING: Union City — Keaten Brown 0-2-1 – 0. Liberty Tech — Reshaun Williamson 10-22-1—89.
RECEIVING: Union City — None. Liberty Tech — Devon Nappier-Smith 7-74, Ethan Schweer 1-6, Lenier Alexander 1-5, Jordan Neeley 1-4.
RECORDS: Union City 8-1, Liberty Tech 0-9.
NEXT GAME: UC hosts Huntingdon, Friday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m.