By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Before Helene arrived in the area late Thursday night, another ‘storm’ blew through the area.
Union City’s Golden Tornado football team wrecked a Region 7A opponent for the third consecutive week, celebrating homecoming with a 65-0 hammering of Greenfield at Randy Barnes Field.
Eighth-ranked UC (4-2) pounded the Jackets in all facets of the contest, which was moved up 24 hours in anticipation of damaging weather associated with Helene — a storm that hit Florida earlier in the day as a Category 4 hurricane.
Undaunted, the Twisters scored on all eight of their offensive possessions and produced two more touchdowns on defense with interception returns in the lopsided triumph that was shortened to eight-minute quarters with a running clock after halftime.
Senior Edie Rogers was crowned queen during halftime festivities. Her court consisted of Senior Princesses Dani and Davey Frankum, Junior Princess Ca’Lae Ervin, Sophomore Princess Brylee Robinson, and Freshman Princess Kylee McClure.
While the offense was equal parts efficient and impressive, the Union City defense did the most damage – limiting G’field to minus 23 total yards. Tornado defenders consistently camped out in the ‘Jackets’ backfield, recording nine tackles for lost yardage while coming up with three turnovers.
Aiden Reid (6 yards) and Adrian Crawford (18 yards) each snagged a pick-six, and Rylan Robinson recovered a fumble to set up a Tornado score. Andre Small recorded a pair of tackles behind the line and finished with a team-high five stops for a unit that regularly swarmed the ball and allowed the visitors no breathing room.
Reid ran for UC’s first three touchdowns – often behind interior linemen Kelan Roberson, Davis Hayes, and Deyton Buckley – as the Purple and Gold put up 35 points in the opening quarter and led 52-0 at the intermission. The junior fullback/linebacker then latched onto a twice-deflected interception and rambled six yards to paydirt.
Quarterback Zak Summers (8-105) recorded his third 100-yard rushing game of the year, keeping on scoring scampers covering 20 and 33 yards on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter.
Marcos Landeros, who was 8-of-9 converting PATs, put an exclamation point on the dominant first half with a 40-yard field goal at the horn.
“It couldn’t have been a better night for us,” Union City head coach Nick Markle said after the game. “Everything worked in our favor, and it was something we needed.
“We got some big plays from our defense, and I thought we played with some energy and some attitude on that side of the ball. Now, we need to build off that in the coming weeks.”
The Twisters, who began inserting reserves into the mix as early as the second quarter, got rushing TDs from backup QB Troy Joslin (3 yards) and Kenny Moss (45 yards) while scoring on two of their three snaps in the second half.
“We’re going to continue to push our guys, no matter who the competition is,” Markle added. “That’s no disrespect to Greenfield or anyone else we play. We’re going to play Union City football, no matter what.
“We have some young guys who push our starters in practice, and it’s good to see them in live action and be able to coach them up by getting some things on tape.
“And I do believe playing folks from bigger classifications in our non-region games helps us. It’s critical, too, for us to get as many reps at game speed as we can. I felt that last year it came back to bite us because our starters hadn’t played a lot in the second half and weren’t in the best shape to do so when we faced the stiffer competition.”
Next up for UC is Dresden, a program that defeated the Tornadoes twice last season, but is in somewhat of a rebuilding mode after having graduated a large senior class. The Lions have posted back-to-back wins after a 0-4 start to the season.
“We’ve all had a bitter taste in our mouths in the offseason after losing to them twice last year,” Markle concluded. “That has sorta fueled us, and I hope it’s provided a little chip on our shoulder as we head into next week.”
Kickoff at Rotary Field is set for 7 p.m.
Union City 65, Greenfield 0
Greenfield 0 0 0 0 — 0
Union City 35 17 6 7 — 65
UC — Aiden Reid 16 run (Marcos Landeros kick). 9:23, 1st
UC — Reid 4 run (Landeros kick). 5:24, 1st
UC — Reid 1 run (Landeros kick). 5:17, 1st
UC — Reid 6 interception return (Landeros kick). 2:05, 1st
UC — Zak Summers 20 run (Landeros kick). 0:36, 1st
UC — Summers 33 run (Landeros kick). 10:06, 2nd
UC — Adrian Crawford 18 interception return (Landeros kick). 7:55, 2nd
UC — Landeros 40 field goal. 0:00, 2nd
UC — Troy Joslin 3 run (kick failed). 2:36, 3rd
UC — Kenny Moss 45 run (Landeros kick). 3:45, 4th
G UC
Total Offense (-23) 296
Rush Att.-Yards 15-(-19) 22-252
Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-11-2 3-5-0
Passing yards (-4) 44
First Downs 3 13
Punts-Avg. 3-27.3 —
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 2-20 5-55
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Greenfield — Easton Sullivan 3-12, Landon Clark 1-4, Jerrick McMullen 1-(-2), Westin Porter 7-(-5), Trey Maben 3-(-18), Team 1-(-10) . Union City — Zak Summers 8-105, Aiden Reid 9-72, Kenny Moss 2-57, Tayehari Jones 1-14, Troy Joslin 1-3, Kyle Price 1-1.
PASSING: Greenfield — Easton Sullivan 1-11-2—(-4). Union City — Zak Summers 3-5-0—44.
RECEIVING: Greenfield — Westin Porter 1-(-4) . Union City — Tucker Davis 1-26, Cohen Simpson 1-13, Tayehari Jones 1-5.
RECORDS: Greenfield 4-2 (2-2); Union City 4-2 (3-0).
NEXT GAME: UC plays at Dresden next Friday at 7 p.m.