By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City brought its A-Game to what was expected to be a stern second-round state playoff test.
The Tornadoes impressively passed with flying colors.
Third-ranked UC turned in arguably its best overall performance of the season against a quality foe Friday night, routing nine-win Middle College 50-12 at War Memorial Stadium.
Union City combined the brute force of fullback Aiden Reid (three touchdowns) and a hard-hitting defense that allowed just 99 total yards with the dazzling running skills of quarterback Zak Summers (135 yards) and Tayehari Jones (121 yards, two TDs) to thrash the Memphis visitors in the mercy-rule triumph.
The Twisters (10-2) won their ninth straight game and advanced to the state quarterfinals for the third consecutive season. They’ll play in Memphis against sixth-ranked MASE (Memphis Academy of Science & Engineering) in a Round 3 Class 1A game next Friday.
MASE will bring a 10-1 record into the contest that will be a rematch of a thrilling second-round game from last year that Union City won 35-34.
The Golden Tornadoes certainly appear to be peaking at the most opportune time.
“Our kids are playing with confidence, and that’s a must at this time of the year,” head coach Nick Markle said after his team celebrated the postseason triumph. “There are eight teams left in the state, and we’re one of them.
“We’re certainly not satisfied with being in the quarterfinals, though. We’ve hit our heads on this ceiling each of the last two years, and one of our goals was to get over this hurdle and on to the next round. It (Round 3) is a nice accomplishment, but we’ve got bigger and better things in mind.”
UC flexed its muscles from the opening kickoff against a Bulldog bunch (9-3) that certainly looked the part of a top-flight foe.
Reid returned to the lineup after missing last week’s first-round game with an ankle injury and gave the Twisters a physical running presence between the tackles. He scored on runs of one and four yards in the first half to help UC to a 24-6 intermission advantage, then capped his 65-yard rushing night with a three-yard TD dive in the fourth quarter.
Summers, who led the Purple and Gold with 135 yards on the ground, posted his sixth 100-yard game and also threw a scoring pass for the fourth straight outing – giving him 14 TD tosses for the season.
Jones mixed hard-nosed running with his trademark shiftiness to go over 100 yards rushing for the third time and second in as many playoff games. His two eight-yard scoring runs increased his team-best scoring total to 114 points.
The Tornadoes’ offensive line of Davis Hayes, Kelan Roberson, Deyton Buckley, Cohen Wood, and Christian Jones, along with H-back Tucker Davis, made all that possible — totally controlling the line of scrimmage and paving the way for four methodical scoring drives of eight plays or more.
Union City’s trenchmen were so dominating that MC ran just 22 offensive plays for the entire game.
“All good things offensively start up front, and our line does such a great job of being patient and communicating,” Markle added. “We have a lot of elder statesmen there, and we have guys who’ve gotten a lot of reps the past couple of years. They get a lot of mental reps, too, and we still focus on the fundamentals – even this late in the year.
“When you block and tackle well, you obviously give yourselves a great chance to win. We’re doing that and doing it very well right now.”
UC’s defense, meanwhile, barely allowed Middle College to breathe. The Twisters gave up just three first downs, the Bulldog touchdowns coming on a kickoff return and a 58-yard run after the game was all but decided.
The hounding Tornado defense did not allow a single pass competition in the contest.
Senior Cohen Simpson easily had the most complete performance of all Union City players – blocking three kicks, finishing with five tackles, and catching a 13-yard scoring pass from Summers.
Andre Small was again the ringleader of the defensive unit with a team-best seven tackles. Kirben Thompson, D.J. Evans, and Reid each were in on five stops, with Reid also scooping up a fumble and rambling 69 yards to set up a TD.
“We have great kids who are doing great things right now,” confirmed Markle, whose squad recorded its sixth running-clock victory. “We’re playing good football and we’re getting tremendous leadership from our seniors.
“Having beaten them by one point last year, I’m sure MASE will be preaching the revenge factor all next week. We’ve got a little sour taste in our mouths, too, from our season ending at this spot in the postseason, so getting up shouldn’t be that tough a task for us.
“We’re excited and will be ready to go with another good week of preparation.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., with a venue likely announced on Monday.
Union City 50, Middle College 12
Middle College 0 6 6 0 — 12
Union City 10 14 13 13 — 50
UC — Aiden Reid 4 run (Marcos Landeros kick). 8:49, 1st
UC — Landeros 41 field goal. 1:17, 1st
UC — Reid 1 run (Landeros kick). 10:40, 2nd
MC — Caleb Odom 92 kickoff return (kick blocked). 10:18, 2nd
UC — Zak Summers 8 run (Landeros kick). 8:25, 2nd
UC — Cohen Simpson 13 pass from Summers (kick failed). 7:45, 3rd
UC — Tayehari Jones 8 run (Landeros kick). 2:40, 3rd
MC — Samuel Bennett 58 run (kick failed). 0:48, 3rd
UC — Reid 3 run (Landeros kick). 8:40, 4th
UC — Jones 8 run (kick blocked). 4:11, 4th
MC UC
Total Offense 99 355
Rush Att.-Yards 16-99 55-323
Comp.-Att.-Int. 0-6-0 2-5-0
Passing yards 0 32
First Downs 3 20
Punts-Avg. 4-20.7 —-
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 9-60 6-40
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Middle College — Samuel Bennett 4-55, Ricarrious Isom 6-22, Jordan Stevens 5-21, Ryan Robinson 1-1. Union City — Zak Summers 17-135, Tayehari Jones 19-121, Aiden Reid 17-65, Cohen Simpson 1-9, Team 1-(-7).
PASSING: Middle College — Jordan Stevens 0-5-0—0, Caleb Odom 0-1-0—0. Union City — Zak Summers 2-5-0—32.
RECEIVING: Middle College — None. Union City — Cohen Simpson 2-32.
RECORDS: Middle College 9-3; Union City 10-2.
NEXT GAME: UC plays MASE (Memphis Academy of Science & Engineering) in Memphis next Friday at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Class 1A state playoffs.