By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City ‘weathered’ a little bit of everything to pick up its first win of the season.
The Tornadoes endured a pair of lightning delays, an electrical blackout, and a dozen penalties before rallying to beat Decatur County-Riverside 18-15 Friday night at Parsons.
Andre Small ran 23 yards for the go-ahead deciding touchdown with 1:26 to play to complete UC’s rally from a 15-point deficit and help the Twisters break into the victory column after two home losses to open the season.
Union City, which rebounded from stretches of unsightly first-half play, did not allow a point over the final three quarters and showcased the overall resilience that head coach Nick Markle has been preaching amid its early-season struggles.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we got the win and that’s what we came here for,” exhaled Markle, whose squad made the two-hour trip to Parsons and didn’t return to UC until after 2 a.m. due to weather delays that pushed kickoff back an hour. “We were a hot mess at the beginning and for most of the first half, but we were gritty after that. Our guys were determined. We were resilient.”
“It came down to us making plays when we needed to make them. Now, there were several others that we didn’t make that put us in the situation we were in after the first quarter, but those are just excuses. And nobody cares.”
Among those playmakers who were vitall in the Tornadoes’ triumph were end Cohen Wood and linebacker Deyton Buckley on defense, and Adrian Crawford, who was instrumental on both sides of the ball for the Purple and Gold.
Wood was a terror for a defensive unit that gave up just 117 yards after allowing two first-quarter TDs, sacking Riverside QB Jack Cupples three times and recording two more tackles for lost yardage. Buckley was around the ball all night with 10 solo tackles and five assists as the Twisters limited the hosts to just 2.8 yards on 39 rushing attempts.
Crawford finished with 158 all-purpose yards. He dashed 59 yards for a touchdown and gave his team a much-needed spark after a mostly lackluster first half. The ultra-talented senior earlier denied the Panthers a bigger lead when he ripped away an interception from its intended target near the Union City goal line and later made a brilliant leaping 30-yard catch of a Jack Theobald pass near midfield.
“Cohen Wood has a great motor and was just relentless in our pass rush,” Markle added. “(Deyton) Buckley is as tough a young man as they come and was really the heart and soul for us…whether it be inside or outside. And Crawford is just a playmaker. When he has the ball in his hands, or is around the ball, there’s a potential for special things.”
Down 15-10, UC looked doomed to another frustrating defeat after a failed fourth-down attempt gave Riverside the ball at its own 26 with a little more than five minutes to play.
But Allijah Simpson forced a Merrel Perez fumble near midfield and linebacker Kaleb Wright pounced on the loose ball to set up the Twisters’ game-winning drive that began with 3:18 left.
Small had a 45-yard run to the Panther five-yard line negated by a penalty. But a 13-yard pickup by Rodney Jenkins and a pair of tough keepers by Theobald moved the sticks for a first down and set up Small’s game-winner off left tackle. Theobald’s conversion run widened the difference to three points after one of Riverside’s 11 penalties moved the ball closer to the goal line.
Wood then made his two biggest plays to snuff out the Panthers’ last gasp. He dropped Jacob Duck for a seven-yard loss on a would-be halfback pass attempt, then buried Cupples for minus-14 yards with just over 20 seconds left to seal the deal.
“We have to do a better job of starting games,” Markle concluded. “We’ve allowed opening touchdown drives in all three of our games, and we can’t continue to do that. Our margin of error is very thin.
“I thought the (36-yard) field goal by Alex Landeros just before halftime was huge and gave us some momentum. We’d played so poorly, but were just down by five (15-10) going in. It gave us something to build off of.
“And now we have this to build off of heading into next week.”
Union City plays at Crittenden County (Ky.) next week in a matchup of 1-2 teams.
Union City 18, Riverside 15
Union City 0 10 0 8 — 18
Riverside 15 0 0 0 — 15
R — Merrel Perez 3 run (Jack Cupples kick). 10:37, 1st
R — Perez 3 run (Cole Yarbro kick). 0:00, 1st
UC — Adrian Crawford 59 run (Alex Landeros kick). 2:43, 2nd
UC — Landeros 36 field goal. 0:00, 2nd
UC — Andre Small 23 run (Jack Theobald run). 1:26, 4th
UC R
Total Offense 252 265
Rush Att.-Yards 37-222 39-112
Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-2-0 13-24-1
Passing yards 30 153
First Downs 10 17
Punts-Avg. 2-34.5 2-20.5
Fumbles-Lost 6-1 3-1
Penalties-Yds. 12-95 11-116
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Andre Small 12-86, Adrian Crawford 4-77, Rodney Jenkins 5-43, Jack Theobald 14-26, Team 2-(-10), Riverside — Merrel Perez 18-67, Jobemick Lopez-Senicion 6-19, Cade Roach 2-17, Hayden Wyatt 1-5, Jack Cupples 11-2, Jacob Duck 1-(-7).
PASSING: Union City — Jack Theobald 1-2-0—30. Riverside — Jack Cupples 13-24-1—153.
RECEIVING: Union City — Adrian Crawford 1-30. Riverside — Cody Brasher 5-52, Jacob Duck 3-42, Cade Roach 2-38, Jobemik Lopez-Senicion 1-12, Charles Eaves 1-7.
RECORDS: UC 1-2; Riverside 0-3.
NEXT GAME: UC plays at Crittenden County (Ky.) next Friday.