By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City head football coach Nick Markle deemed himself “pleased” with the Tornadoes’ first preseason outing Friday evening.
“With it being our first time out, I’m fine with what I saw,” Markle said after UC outscored Lake County three-touchdowns-to-two in a scrimmage session that lasted nearly two hours at War Memorial Stadium. “We obviously still have some work to do – as does every other team in America after their first scrimmage – but I saw a lot of positives and some good things to build on.
“I thought we were physical, and we competed, which were the basics that you’re concerned with every time out. Most of the mistakes we made were correctable, and that’s a good thing.”
Andre Small ripped off long touchdown runs covering 50 and 70 yards, respectively, to pace the UC offense. Adrian Crawford took an option pitch from quarterback Jack Theobald and scooted 40 yards to account for the Twisters’ other score.
Both Theobald, a sophomore, and senior Kirben Thompson directed scoring drives for Union City, which moved the ball consistently during the session that consisted of four 10-play drives for each team.
The Tornado defense, which drew words of praise from Markle, limited Lake County for much of the scrimmage except for a handful of athletic plays by the Falcons, who are expected to compete for the Region 7A title after UC moved up to 2A.
“Our defense was a little bit of a concern coming in because of us having some new schemes, some new calls, and some people in different places,” Markle said. “But our first-teamers were exceptional, I thought, except for one big play they allowed.
“Offensively, we moved the ball well all night, and we only turned it over once. Those are good things.”
Markle, whose squad will scrimmage at McCracken County next Friday night at 7 p.m., says he’ll continue to look at a variety of combinations on both sides of the ball as he looks to combat injuries and seek quality depth.
“Coming up with Plans C and D are what I think I’m good at,” he stated. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the offseason looking at and thinking about different scenarios. We might have to shuffle the deck a little on both sides of the ball, but we have good kids who I’m confident will do whatever is asked of them to win ballgames and for the betterment of our program.”