By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Both literally and figuratively, Union City’s 56-23 loss to the University School of Jackson will hurt a while.
The second-ranked Tornadoes were not only beaten convincingly in their home opener, but UC also lost a handful of two-way starters to injuries – some possibly for longer than Friday night’s game.
“It was crazy. I think at one time, we were down to our eighth offensive lineman,” Twister head coach Nick Markle said afterward. “Defensively, we were playing ends at linebacker and linebackers at safety. The same was true on offense. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a game in my coaching career with as many injuries.
“Still, our effort has to be better. We didn’t get the job done tonight, no matter who was in there. Everybody has to step up as we move forward, and that includes Coach Markle.”
Two-way regular Tucker Davis went down with an injury on the game’s first snap and was soon joined on the sideline by Kirben Thompson, who is expected to miss time moving forward. Lineman Deyton Buckley didn’t play in the second half, and all-around standout Cohen Simpson was sidelined in the first half before gamely returning after the break. Several other Tornadoes were also hobbled as the game wore on.
“Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, and the sky is not falling,” Markle added. “It’s the second game of the season. This program has endured a lot of ups and downs over the last three or four years, and I truly believe we’ve learned perseverance through that.
“I told them in the huddle afterward that I expect that hearing the other team cheer loudly on our home field should be what fuels us moving forward.”
USJ’s Noah Spencer riddled the Tornado defense for 238 yards and six touchdowns to pace a Bruin offense that piled up 481 total yards. Spencer, who rushed for 104 yards and two TDs in a narrow USJ win over UC last year, had scoring runs of 5, 31, 3, 16, 69, and 60 yards in Friday’s game.
The Twisters, meanwhile, were limited to just 206 total yards. They scored their only offensive touchdown with 5:47 left when Kyle Price ran 16 yards to paydirt.
Tayehari Jones was easily the bright spot of the night for Union City, with a pair of electrifying kickoff returns for TDs – covering 95 and 85 yards, respectively.
Jones also had a 33-yard run that set up Price’s scoring jaunt and caught a swing pass from quarterback Zak Summers before dashing for a gain of 51 yards to account for the Tornadoes’ longest offensive play of the evening.
Marcos Landeros, who was 2-of-3 in PATs, booted a 33-yard field goal just before halftime to account for UC’s other points and drew the Purple and Gold within 28-10 at the intermission.
Following the second of Jones’ two kick-play scores, Union City pounced on a free ball to seize brief momentum early in the third quarter. The Tornadoes then drove to the USJ 23, but a bad snap and subsequent failed fourth down try killed the rally.
The Bruins scored on their next three possessions to stretch their lead from 28-17 to 49-17 early in the final period.
Jones, Simpson, and Grant Sinclair had five tackles apiece for the Twister defense.
Markle, who commended his coaching staff for “shuffling the deck” during the rash of injuries, wound up his postgame comments by saying: “We’ll find some positives in this somehow, and we’ll turn the page and get ready for next week.
“I told them, ‘You have to have the next man up mentality.’ We have several guys who were just one play away from being a starter, and now that’s happened. We have to be resilient, and we’re going to coach up whoever we have and get them in positions to compete.
“It takes zero talent to give 100 percent effort. Whomever we have available to us moving forward, we’re going to expect their best.”
Union City will play at Class 4A Dyer County (2-0) next week.
USJ 56, Union City 23
USJ 7 21 14 14 — 56
Union City 0 10 7 6 — 23
USJ — Noah Spencer 5 run (Cooper Sykes kick). 10:40, 1st
USJ — Spencer 31 run (Sykes kick). 11:45, 2nd
UC — Tayehari Jones 95 kickoff return (Marcos Landeros kick). 11:28, 2nd
USJ — Spencer 3 run (Sykes kick). 7:12, 2nd
USJ — Bradley Stamper 32 fumble return (Sykes kick). 6:52, 1st
UC — Landeros 33 field goal. 0:04, 2nd
UC — Jones 85 kickoff return (Landeros kick). 11:31, 3rd
USJ — Spencer 16 run (Sykes kick). 5:53, 3rd
USJ — Spencer 69 run (Sykes kick). 1:46, 3rd
USJ — Spencer 60 run (Sykes kick). 10:45, 4th
UC — Kyle Price 16 run (Landeros kick). 5:47, 4th
USJ — Jackson Pugh 32 run (Sykes kick). 3:44, 4th
USJ UC
Total Offense 481 206
Rush Att.-Yards 31-346 42-125
Comp.-Att.-Int. 6-11-0 5-10-0
Passing yards 135 81
First Downs 15 13
Punts-Avg. 1-44 3-30.8
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-2
Penalties-Yds. 8-65 2-10
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: USJ — Noah Spencer 17-238, Corben Howard 6-63, Jackson Pugh 4-42, Drew Davis 3-8, Team 1-(-5). Union City — Aiden Reid 14-45, Kyle Price 9-35, Tayehari Jones 7-26, Zak Summers 10-26, Troy Joslin 1-4, Team 1-(-11).
PASSING: USJ — Corben Howard 6-11-0—135. Union City — Zak Summers 5-10-0—81.
RECEIVING: USJ — Alex Wallace 4-125, Mills Terry 2-10, Union City — Tayehari Jones 2-62, Cohen Simpson 2-15, Owen Waggoner 1-4.
RECORDS: USJ 2-0; Union City 1-1.
NEXT GAME: UC plays at Dyer County Friday at 7 p.m.