By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
As expected, winless Humboldt was no match for eighth-ranked Union City.
The heavily favored Tornadoes scored before taking their first offensive snap and then on all seven of their possessions on the way to a 55-6 drubbing of the homestanding Vikings Friday night.
It marked UC’s fifth Region 7-1A mercy-rule blowout and the Twisters’ second in as many weeks against teams at the bottom of the league standings. The Purple and Gold has outscored a collection of outmanned foes 267-26 in their five regional triumphs and stand at 6-3 overall heading into next week’s regular-season finale at Lake County, which will be played on Thursday night.
Another victory and Union City will host a first-round state playoff game as the region runner-up, while a loss to the Falcons would send the Tornadoes to Memphis in Round 1 as the league’s third seed.
The once-storied H’boldt program that has struggled mightily in recent years was no match for the Twisters Friday, overwhelmed soon after the opening kickoff.
Tayehari Jones – who had 141 yards on three kick returns in addition to a rushing touchdown and UC’s lone pass reception – hauled back a Viking punt 66 yards to paydirt with the game less than two minutes old to begin the rout.
Quarterback Keaten Brown and fullback Jacob Arnold had two rushing TDs each in the first half as the Tornadoes dominated special teams play and regularly set up short fields for their offense. In fact, six of Union City’s seven scoring drives took four plays or less – five of those starting in Humboldt territory.
In all, UC ran just 23 offensive plays.
A 27-point second-quarter outburst after the Vikings had scored their only touchdown on a pass play sent the Twisters to the locker room firmly in control with a 41-6 lead.
Brown had TD scampers of 10 and 28 yards, Arnold scored from the 13 and the 15, and Jones scooted to the endzone for the second time on a run of 35 yards. Marcos Landeros followed with six PAT kicks.
With a running clock over the final two quarters, UC still found the goal line twice, with reserve running backs Jaylen Marshall (12 yards) and Kyle Price (two yards) getting the glory.
Defensively, linebacker Aiden Reid – the team’s leading tackler on the season – had another noteworthy performance with 13 stops, including nine solos. Kirben Thompson registered nine tackles, including two for lost yards, while Jacob Arnold was credited with eight takedowns. Kelan Roberson also had two stops behind the line, one on a fourth-down play.
Union City head coach Nick Markle dissected the big picture in his postgame comments.
“This was a game of maturity, in my opinion,” Markle said. “We knew what was supposed to happen if we handled our business, and I wasn’t totally pleased that some of our guys were guilty of sleepwalking there in the first quarter. We’re not good enough to start slow. Some of our guys were tuned in. Some weren’t. We still have some growing up to do in some spots, and we need to do it quickly.
“All in all, though, we’ve had back-to-back weeks of having clean games with fewer mistakes, less penalties, and no turnovers. We’re about to get into a stretch where we play some good teams, and your mistakes are always magnified when the stakes are higher. We need to continue to work on the things that are going to be the difference between winning and losing in the playoffs.”
The coach said Lake County running back Calvin Mullins, who was among the nation’s leading rushers at one point this season, would be an obvious challenge for his team’s defense next week.
“He’s a good player, and we have to get a lot of hats around the ball if we’re going to keep him in check,” Markle added. “I know both teams are going to put everything they have into it, and it’s essentially going to be like starting the playoffs a week early with the intensity that will be present on both sides.”
The Falcons will enter the contest with a 5-4 overall record.
Union City 55, Humboldt 6
Union City 14 27 7 7 — 55
Humboldt 0 6 0 0 — 6
UC — Tayehari Jones 66 punt return (Marcos Landeros kick) 10:12, 1st
UC — Keaten Brown 10 run (Landeros kick) 5:12, 1st
H — Kendrick Taylor 26 pass from Kavein Taylor (pass failed) 11:00, 2nd
UC — Brown 28 run (kick failed) 9:11, 2nd
UC — Jacob Arnold 13 run (Landeros kick) 6:56, 2nd
UC — Jones 35 run (Landeros kick) 5:17, 2nd
UC — Arnold 15 run (Landeros kick) 2:55, 2nd
UC — Jaylen Marshall 12 run (Landeros kick) 8:00, 3rd
UC — Kyle Price 2 run (Landeros kick) 6:40, 4th
UC H
Total Offense 246 149
Rush Att.-Yards 20-221 33-87
Comp.-Att.-Int 1-3-1 5-12-1
First Downs 14 11
Punts-Avg. — 4-18.2
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 2-30 4-25
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Keaten Brown 6-79, Jacob Arnold 9-78, Tayehari Jones 2-42, Jaylen Marshall 1-12, Kyle Price 2-10. Humboldt — Jeremiah Jones 8-31, Jay Agnew 15-28, Isaiah Crawford 3-10, Nicholas Bigham 3-9, Kavein Taylor 3-9, Stephon Shivers 1-0.
PASSING: Union City — Keaten Brown 1-3-0 – 25. Humboldt — Kavein 5-12-1 – 62.
RECEIVING: Union City — Tayehari Jones 1-25. Humboldt — Kendrick Taylor 4-59, Nicholas Bigham 1-3.
RECORDS: Union City 6-3 (5-1); Humboldt 0-9 (0-6).
NEXT GAME: UC plays at Lake County, Thursday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m.