By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Union City’s second loss to Huntingdon wasn’t any easier to swallow than the first.
The 10th-ranked Golden Tornadoes – who dropped a close decision to Huntingdon in their regular season finale – saw their season end when the No. 6 Mustangs scored twice in the fourth quarter to rally and beat UC 14-3 in the Class 2A state quarterfinals Friday night.
The bitter loss brought down the curtain on a 10-3 campaign for the Purple and Gold and was the last game for seven Union City seniors.
UC held a slim advantage in most statistical categories in Friday’s rematch with the Ponies – including total offense (202-188), time of possession (51 offensive snaps to 32), and first downs (12-10).
Unfortunately, Huntingdon came out on top for the second time in four weeks in the only stat that matters vs. the Twisters after capitalizing on great field position to begin a pair of fourth-quarter drives and netting 88 yards of its final total in the last stanza.
“This one really hurts,” a dejected Union City head coach Nick Markle said afterward. “We wanted to keep this train rolling and wanted to win this one for our seniors.
“And our kids gave a great effort, especially defensively.
“It just didn’t work out for us in the end.”
Indeed, the Tornadoes put forth a tremendous defensive effort – holding a Huntingdon offense that had totaled more than 300 yards in an earlier 27-20 win – in check for most of the night.
Linebackers Keaten Brown (nine tackles) and Gage Smith (eight) led a stingy unit that stuffed the Mustangs on fourth-and-goal from the one yard-line on the hosts’ first possession. Jacob Arnold and Kolby Craig had sacks of star quarterback Gray Eubanks, and Arnold, Hayden Moon, Durrell Littleton and Cohen Simpson were credited with seven stops each. Simpson also snagged an interception that thwarted a Mustang drive.
But a UC offense that started three drives inside its own 10 and two more inside the 25 consistently faced long odds when trying to negotiate that distance to the Ponies’ goal line.
The Tornadoes did put together an 18-play march on their first possession that died on downs at the Huntingdon 30 and needed 13 snaps to put up their only points of the contest – a 25-yard field goal by Finn Frankum on their opening second-half series.
Union City appeared to have broken the scoreless tie with a touchdown when Smith bowled his way into the endzone from the three. But an illegal shift penalty – one of 10 flags thrown against the Twisters by the same crew that wiped out three TDs last week vs. Westview – took that score off the board.
Huntingdon, meanwhile, started its two scoring drives with excellent field position – at the Tornado 32 and at its own 45, respectively.
Eubanks set up the first Mustang TD with an 18-yard scramble before Elijah Flowers darted 14 yards to paydirt with 10:33 to play to make it 6-3.
Ashton Hutcherson ran 13 yards for a clinching touchdown with 3:33 left after Eubanks kept for gains of 11 and 10 yards to seal the outcome.
Arnold (12-60) and Brown (16-78) were Union City’s most effective ball carriers and went over 1,200 and 1,100 yards, respectively, for the season.
“It was a battle… a true war,” Markle continued. “I can’t say enough about our defense and how they executed our game plan. We put some wrinkles in to try and combat their quarterback, which gave them some problems. He still made some plays at critical times, and they were able to win the field position battle, which was huge.”
The coach then paid tribute to his seniors, Smith, Moon, Littleton, Hayden Kennedy, Davian Jeffrey, Carson Collins, and Kolby Craig.
“Those guys were sophomores when I came here, and they are special to me because of what we’ve been through together,” Markle said. “They’ve set the standard of what will come here in the next several years, and whatever success we have, they’ll be a part of it.
“They’ve represented our school and our community the right way. The culture they’ve set will be a part of the standard we have here.
“They’ll always have a place in my heart.”
HUNTINGDON 14, UNION CITY 3
Union City 0 0 3 0 — 3
Westview 0 0 0 14 — 14
UC — Finn Frankum 25 field goal. 4:51, 3rd, 3rd
H — Elijah Flowers 14 run 10:33, 4th
H — Ashton Hutcherson 13 run (Gray Eubanks conversion run) 3:33, 4th
UC H
Total Offense 202 188
Rush Att.-Yards 46-189 27-152
Passing Yards 13 36
Comp.-Att.-Int 1-5-1 3-5-1
First Downs 12 10
Punts-Avg. 3-26.6 2-47.5
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 10-70 3-35
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City – Keaten Brown 16-78, Jacob Arnold 12-60, Gage Smith 11-39, Kaleb Craig 3-7, Durrell Littleton 4-5. Huntingdon — Gray Eubanks 14-95, Ashton Hutcherson 9-48, Elijah Flowers 4-14 .
PASSING: Union City — Keaten Brown 1-5-1 – 13. Huntingdon — Gray Eubanks 3-5-1 —36.
RECEIVING: Union City — Cohen Simpson 1-13. Huntingdon — Elijah Flowers 2-11, Ashton Hutcherson 1-25.
RECORDS: Union City 10-3, Huntingdon 11-2.