By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–After a 56-14 loss to fourth-ranked Trenton – its third consecutive setback to begin the 2018 season – No. 6 Union City is looking only forward and not back.
“We can’t look back at this game, or at either one of the others (Mayfield and Jackson South Side),” Tornado head coach Darren Bowling said after Friday’s loss to long-time rival Peabody.
“We can only look to what’s ahead of us and take one day at a time and try to get better.”
With a shuffled line-up due to injuries, UC’s lack of depth on both sides of the ball was a key factor in Friday’s loss.
So, too, was the Twisters’ own mistakes.
A pair of lost fumbles and two blocked punts hurt Union City’s cause and the Purple and Gold spotted visiting Peabody a three-touchdown lead before the contest was 5 ½ minutes old.
The Tornadoes did score twice before the intermission (short runs by quarterback Sam Theobald and fullback Kaleb Craig) to narrow the deficit to 28-14, and had a promising drive going in the third quarter in an attempt to further rally.
A 15-yard penalty stalled that march though, and Trenton scored four times against a tiring UC defense in the final 15 minutes.
“We had a lot of holes on defense and we didn’t make many holes on offense,” Bowling continued. “And we really hurt ourselves on special teams.
“Peabody has a really good football team. You can’t give them the short field like we did so many times because of the caliber of athletes they have. They’ll burn you.”
Cooper Baugus threw for a pair of TDs and ran for a third score while Noah Halbrook ran for a 59-yard touchdown on the game’s first snap and later turned a short Baugus pass into a 73-yard scoring sprint for Trenton, which improved to 3-0.
UC got another 100-yard rushing effort from Craig (20-107), his third time to go over the century mark in as many games. Craig left the game late in the third quarter with cramps, though, and did not return on either side of the ball.
Jay Ramsey moved from starting tackle to the backfield in Craig’s absence and finished with 47 yards on 10 carries.
Theobald, running the offense due to a broken arm suffered by Conner Hurt last week, capped a six-play drive with a one-yard keeper to get the Twisters on the scoreboard with 3:38 to go in the opening frame.
Back-up QB and starting tailback Wes Tilghman was back on the field – but at receiver – after missing last week’s contest vs. South Side with a shoulder injury.
“We’ll continue to work with what we have and I still believe in this bunch,” Bowling added. “Our numbers aren’t what we’d like them to be, but we can’t let fatigue be a factor.
“We have some guys who love the game who are going to continue to give us their best and improve.”
Craig, Neil Brown, Conner Terrell and Kaylon McLendon all were in on four tackles apiece for UC on defense.
The Tornadoes will celebrate homecoming next week, hosting Oakhaven of Memphis.
Trenton 56, UC 14
Trenton 21 7 14 14 — 56
Union City 7 7 0 0 — 14
T — Noah Halbrook 59 run (Isaiah Hicks kick). 11:39, 1st
T — Eli Hammonds 22 pass from Cooper Baugus (Hicks kick). 8:48, 1st
T — Baugus 1 run (Hicks kick). 6:34, 1st
UC — Sam Theobald 1 run (Austin Atwill kick). 3:38, 1st
T — Jerrel Dickson 2 run (Hicks kick). 11:37, 2nd
UC — Kaleb Craig 2 run (Atwill kick). 3:34, 2nd
T — Halbrook 73 pass from Baugus (Hicks kick). 3:08, 3rd
T — Dickson 1 run (Hicks kick). 1:29, 3rd
T — Jacquez Wilkins 23 run (Hicks kick). 11:46, 4th
T — Desmond Tyler 39 run (Hicks kick). 5:02, 4th
T UC
Total Offense 355 163
Rush Att.-Yards 23-187 45-153
Comp.-Att.-Int 7-8-0 2-3-0
First Downs 8 8
Punts-Avg. 2-28.0 4-15.4
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2
Penalties-Yds. 6-68 6-45
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Trenton — Noah Halbrook 2-55, Desmond Tyler 2-42, Cooper Baugus 7-36, Jerrel Dickson 9-33, Jacquez Wilkins 2-21, Courtlen Wade 1-2, Union City — Kaleb Craig 20-107, Jay Ramsey 10-47, Sam Theobald 14-0, Kyrell Littleton 1-(-1).
PASSING: Trenton — Cooper Baugus 7-8-0—168. Union City —Sam Theobald 2-3-0—10.
RECEIVING: Trenton — Noah Halbrook 4-123, Eli Hammonds 2-26, Josh Parks 1-19. Union City — Kyrell Littleton 1-6, Kaylon McLendon 1-4.
RECORDS: Trenton 3-0 (1-0), UC 0-3 (0-1)
NEXT GAME: UC celebrates homecoming next Friday, hosting Oakhaven, while Trenton hosts Humboldt.
Mike Hutchens
Communications Director
Union City Schools
731-796-6519 (cell)
hutchensm@ucboe.net
http://www.tornadotouch.net/
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