By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–In need of a ‘feel good’ win after back-to-back big losses, Union City checked all the boxes against Gleason.
The Golden Tornadoes bounced back from consecutive subpar outings by dominating the outmanned Bulldogs 49-0 Friday night in their Region 7-A opener at War Memorial Stadium.
UC (2-2) scored on seven of eight possessions and limited the previously unbeaten visitors to just 70 total yards while forcing three turnovers before a sparse crowd that was limited by day-long rains and a light drizzle that fell for some of the contest.
Kyle Price ran for 175 yards and two touchdowns in his first varsity start to pace a Twister offense that piled up a season-high 506 total yards. Quarterback Zak Summers continued to show promise with a pair of TD passes, and Tayehari Jones ran for a score and was on the receiving end of the second of Summers’ two touchdown tosses.
Back-up QB Troy Joslin rushed for Union City’s final two TDs to cap the mercy-rule triumph against a game Gleason bunch that dressed less than 20 players and was missing starting quarterback Drake Lehmkuhi, who was injured in a non-football accident on Thursday.
Purple and Gold defenders recorded 10 tackles for lost yards in pitching the shutout. Linebacker Aiden Reid led the unit with 13 total stops, while Andre Small finished with 10 tackles and an interception from his secondary post.
Deyton Buckley had two tackles behind the line and a fumble recovery, and Cohen Simpson snagged a pick.
Tornado head coach Nick Markle said he and his staff had stressed physicality in last week’s practices after disappointing efforts vs. USJ and Dyer County.
Overall, he was pleased with his team’s response.
“We ran our offense like we wanted to, and we played power football,” Markle said. “Our growth as a team is not going to happen overnight, but I thought we took some steps in the right direction tonight. We were physical all week in our preparations, and we even went through our walk-thru on Thursday in full pads. Our message was simple: Physicality.
“Now – in addition to growth – we need to establish some consistency. We sputtered a little bit on both sides of the ball at times, and we need to eliminate that to get to where we want to be. We must improve every week.”
Price, a 6-foot, 205-pound sophomore, scored UC’s first two touchdowns and regularly battled through would-be tackles for extra yards. He had five carries for 10 or more yards, with bursts of 22 and 26 yards in the third quarter representing his largest gains.
“(Kyle) Price was in our plans all during the offseason, but he’s been nicked up, and we really didn’t know what we were going to get with him,” Markle said. “Now, he has to build off this and show some consistency.”
A 21-point second period put the Twisters firmly in control and up 28-0 at the intermission.
Summers’ pretty back-shoulder touchdown pass to Adrian Crawford with 35 seconds left before halftime capped the flurry.
UC twice turned away Gleason’s scoring threats in the opening half after a pair of special team blunders, including a blocked punt and a long kickoff return.
Next up for Union City is unbeaten and seventh-ranked South Fulton in another Region 7A game.
“They have a really good quarterback in the (Brady) McFarland kid who headlines a good set of skill players for them,” Markle concluded. “We have to have the proper fits defensively and continue to make strides with our tackling.
“I expect a good ballgame.”
Union City 49, Gleason 0
Gleason 0 0 0 0 — 0
Union City 7 21 14 7 — 49
UC — Kyle Price 3 run (Marcos Landeros kick). 9:30, 1st
UC — Price 9 run (Landeros kick). 10:53, 2nd
UC — Tayehari Jones 23 run (Landeros kick). 5:11, 2nd
UC — Adrian Crawford 29 pass from Zak Summers (Landeros kick). 0:35, 2nd
UC — Jones 54 pass from Summers (Landeros kick). 11:40, 3rd
UC — Troy Joslin 7 run (Landeros kick). 3:16, 3rd
UC — Joslin 3 run (Landeros kick). 4:40, 4th
G UC
Total Offense 70 506
Rush Att.-Yards 27-70 45-392
Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-7-2 5-5-0
Passing yards 0 114
First Downs 4 20
Punts-Avg. 2-34.6 1-(-17)
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 1-10 9-75
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Gleason — Aiden Legens 13-48, Gage Byington 6-16, Brody Sanders 6-9, Bryce Pettit 1-(-1), Wylan Gustafson 1-(-2). Union City — Kyle Price 20-175, Zak Summers 5-78, Tayehari Jones 8-69, Troy Joslin 8-43, Aiden Reid 2-31, Kenny Moss 1-1, Team 1-(5).
PASSING: Gleason — Brody Sanders 1-7-2—0. Union City — Zak Summers 4-4-0—101, Troy Joslin 1-1-0—13.
RECEIVING: Gleason — Gage Byington 1-0 . Union City — Tayehari Jones 2-68, Cohen Simpson 2-17, Adrian Crawford 1-29.
RECORDS: Gleason 3-1 (0-1); Union City 2-2 (1-0).
NEXT GAME: UC plays at South Fulton next Friday at 7 p.m.