By Mike Hutchens
UC Schools Communications Director
For three quarters, Union City was better than Mayfield.
Unfortunately, the Golden Tornadoes ran out of gas before they could reach the finish line.
A tiring UC squad saw the heavily-favored Cardinals score the game’s final 23 points – all in the fourth quarter – and hand the otherwise-game Twisters a 43-27 season-opening loss Friday night in Mayfield.
The contest was a sharp contrast from a year ago when the Redbirds thrashed Union City 41-0, a loss that had its sting reduced when the Tornadoes rebounded to win their fourth state championship in the last nine seasons.
This time around, though, UC was every bit as good – and actually a little better until the last 10 minutes – than the tradition-rich Cards, who are expected to challenge for their program’s 13th state title this season.
Fullback Kaleb Craig consistently hammered the middle of the Mayfield defense, running for 207 yards and two TDs, and both quarterback Conner Hurt and tailback Wes Tilghman had scoring runs as the Tornadoes methodically moved up and down the field and kept the explosive Cardinal offense on the sideline in the process.
Union City immediately imposed its will on Mayfield, taking the opening drive and negotiating 93 yards in 14 plays while eating over 6 ½ minutes off the clock before Craig bolted 35 yards to paydirt. The Twisters then opened the second half with another long ball-control series, taking up over 10 ½ minutes while going 80 yards on 17 snaps before Craig scored again to give UC the lead again (27-20) after the Cards had drawn even on the first play of the second half.
In the last seven minutes, though, the gritty Tornadoes were running on fumes.
With most starters playing both ways, the Purple and Gold wilted under Mayfield’s continued balanced offensive assault that produced more than 200 yards both rushing and passing.
After Jayden Stinson threw his fourth touchdown pass with just under 11 minutes to play to get the Cardinals within 27-26, the hosts then turned to Kent Trey Matthews, who ran for scores on back-to-back snaps with less than five minutes to go to cap his 193-yard rushing night and help his team break away.
“We were just gassed there at end,” Union City head coach Darren Bowling said afterward. “When you play a team and a program as good as Mayfield, with the hype and the intensity that this game had, you expend a lot of energy – especially when you have as many people go both ways as we have. This wasn’t about us not being in shape. It’s about the process of getting ourselves to the point where we can play four really good quarters against a high-end opponent.
“A lot of people play somebody they can easily beat in the first week. They don’t really get a true test of who they are. We played somebody that will make us better and, if we’d played them in Week 5 when we’re used to playing four quarters at a high level, the result might’ve been different.
“I’m thrilled with the effort of my guys. We won three quarters. I’ve said for the last four weeks that we are ahead of where we were last year at this time. If we’ll build on the positives of this game and use the negatives to motivate us into getting better, I like where we’re headed.”
UC saddled up workhorse fullback Craig for 33 carries. When he began experiencing cramps early in the fourth quarter and had to temporarily leave the game, though the Tornado offense was noticeably a different animal.
“No doubt, that was the key point of the game, the turning point,” Bowling added. “Our lack of depth really showed up then.
“Our guys continued to fight, but we are obviously a different team without Kaleb in there.”
Union City mixed keepers by Hurt and the occasional triple-option pitch to Tilghman behind the work of steady offensive line play to effectively move the ball over the first three quarters and keep Mayfield honest.
Tilghman took a toss from Hurt and scampered 14 yards for a TD and Hurt scooted 20 yards to the endzone as the Tornadoes scored on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter to erase a 12-7 deficit and go up 20-12 at the half.
Austin Atwill made 3-of-4 PAT kicks for UC.
The Tornado defense registered a pair of key first-half stops before Mayfield scored on four straight possessions over the final two periods.
Kaylon McLendon had a huge night with a game-high 10 ½ tackles from his secondary post. Both Conner Terrell and Sam Theobald were in on 5 ½ stops apiece.
Union City opens its 2018 home schedule with the first of three home games next week, hosting Class 4A Jackson South Side.
Mayfield 43, Union City 27
Union City 7 13 7 0 — 27
Mayfield 6 6 8 23 — 43
SCORING
UC — Kaleb Craig 35 run (Austin Atwill kick). 4:20, 1st
M — Kade Neely 46 pass from Jayden Stinson (kick blocked). 2:22, 1st
M — Brady smith 6 pass from Stinson (run failed). 11:14, 2nd
UC — Wes Tilghman 14 run (kick failed). 7:47, 2nd
UC — Conner Hurt 20 run (Atwill kick). 3:44, 2nd
M — Neely 81 pass from Stinson (Connor Guthrie run). 11:37, 3rd
UC — Craig 3 run (Atwill kick). 1:01, 3rd
M — Alonzo Daniel 9 pass from Stinson (no kick attempted). 10:45, 4th
M — Kent Trey Matthews 18 run (Matthews run). 6:45, 4th
M — Matthews 39 run (Micah Haley kick). 4:14, 4th
M — Safety, Hurt tackled in endzone. 2:41, 4th
UC M
Total Offense 318 456
Rush Att.-Yards 62-318 23-234
Comp.-Att.-Int 0-1-0 9-14-0
Passing Yards 0 222
First Downs 17 14
Punts-Avg. 3-30.0 1-36.0
Fumbles-Lost 5-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 4-25 5-41
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Kaleb Craig 33-207, Conner Hurt 19-79, Wes Tilghman 9-31, Jay Ramsey 1-1 . Mayfield — Kent Trey Matthews 16-193, Markeacio Jackson 2-46, Jayden Stinson 2-1, Team 3-(-6)
PASSING: Union City — Conner Hurt 0-1-0—0. Mayfield — Jayden Stinson 9-14-0—222.
RECEIVING: Union City — None. Mayfield — Kade Neely 4-137, Diaz Perry 2-37, Tate Puckett 1-33, Alonzo Daniel 1-9, Brady Smith 1-6.
RECORDS: UC 0-1, Mayfield 1-0.
NEXT GAME: UC hosts Jackson South Side next Friday.
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