By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Needing a jolt of energy, Union City got just that from Cohen Simpson to shake off an uneven scrimmage showing against Trenton.
Simpson thwarted a Peabody threat with an interception deep in UC territory late in Friday’s outing, then was on the receiving end of a 59-yard touchdown pass from Troy Joslin to provide some late life in the session for the Tornadoes.
Simpson then had a leaping 20-yard reception from Zak Summers to set up Marcos Landeros’ 29-yard field goal on the final play of the varsity portion of the scrimmage to help Union City escape with a 17-all tie.
The preseason outing was the second for the Tornadoes, who’ll have one final tune-up at Covington in the annual Purple and Gold Jamboree next Friday before opening the 2024 season on Aug. 23 with a game at Murray.
Though his team started well with an opening-drive touchdown and ended the session by scoring 10 points in the final four minutes, UC head coach Nick Markle acknowledged the Twisters were lacking in the intensity department.
“We were slow off the bus and slow to get going,” Markle said afterward. “That’s something that we can’t have and something that I’m confident that our seniors and our captains will get fixed before the next time out.
“The big plays late got our juices going, though. We really woke up and played with a lot more fire and emotion, and Cohen’s plays were a big reason for that.”
The Tornadoes opened the session with an impressive 80-yard scoring march that featured a 45-yard run by Tayehari Jones and a 15-yard pitch-and-catch from Summers to Tucker Davis. Summers then weaved his way through the Peabody defense on a 19-yard TD scramble to get UC on the scoreboard first.
Trenton answered with a short fourth-down touchdown run – breaking a couple of would-be tackles along the way. The Tide added another TD via a long scamper and tacked on a field goal with just under 10 minutes left in the second quarter to complete a 17-point run.
The Twisters then showed some life in the final minutes to pull even before jayvee units from both teams finished the session. Kenny Moss’s touchdown run made the final score 23-17 for UC.
“I didn’t think we were as clean offensively as we were last week,” Markle added. “We have to be better tacklers, and our overall effort simply has to be better.
“There was nothing that happened that we can’t fix – and will fix – before the season opens.”
Union City was again missing a pair of injured two-way starters, though both are expected back next week.
The UC Middle School team will also be involved in next Friday’s jamboree at Covington.