By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–At this rate, Coach Darren Bowling may schedule all of Union City’s future home games on Thursdays.
Their regular season War Memorial Stadium finale moved up a day due to a forecast of messy weather conditions, the Tornadoes responded with their most-complete effort of the season against quality opposition by thumping Dyersburg 49-21 Thursday night.
The stellar performance against a Class 4A Trojan squad that was ranked as high as third in the state earlier in the season not only broke a three-game UC losing streak, but also made both Senior Night and “Pink-Out” Night a rousing success.
Quarterback Sam Theobald did a little bit of everything for the Twisters (4-4), rushing for 166 yards and three touchdowns, while also firing a dart to a streaking Travon Westbrook that went for an 89-yard score early in the second quarter.
Theobald intercepted a pass, too, and was in on a team-high 10 tackles for a Union City unit that stopped D’burg on three of four second-half possessions and looked considerably better overall after a more-simplified scheme was installed in three days of practice this week.
Union City had just one turnover in the contest, scored on its first seven drives – including twice in the final 1:07 of the first half – and dominated time of possession while rolling up nearly 500 total yards (498) behind another stellar offensive line performance.
Bowling, head coach of the UCHS squad, joked afterward that “apparently, it’s that extra day of practice that’s been getting us,” while noting his team’s rock-solid performance a day ahead of scheduled.
“We ask a lot out of these guys all year. Fall break was no different. We had full-fledged practices and the kids worked extremely hard while a lot of their families and friends were gone away on trips. They responded, and altering our weekly routine and schedule was never a factor,” Bowling added.
“They just came out and took care of business.”
UC scored on four consecutive offensive sequences to turn a tie game into a comfortable 42-14 lead midway through the third quarter.
Theobald ran 17 yards to give the Tornadoes a 21-14 lead just a minute before intermission, then intercepted a pass and drove his squad 65 yards in just five plays to double that advantage with a five-yard paydirt keeper with 11 seconds showing before halftime.
Westbrook scored his second TD on a 46-yard dash to open the second half for the Twisters before Theobald rambled 28 yards for his third rushing scoring with seven minutes on the third-period clock.
Justin Wiggins, who posted his seventh 100-yard rushing game with 121 yards, finished off the Union City scoring late in the third stanza with a three-yard dive that capped a nine-play scoring drive.
Wes Tilghman got the Purple and Gold on the scoreboard with a 14-yard dash around left end that answered D’burg’s game-opening touchdown. Tilghman also keyed UC’s drive just before halftime with a 17-yard gainer.
Freshman place-kicker Miguel Sanchez continued to impress with a 7-for-7 PAT performance that ran his consecutive made-kick streak to 36 in a row. Sanchez also recorded a touchback on the game-opening kickoff.
“I’ve said that we were close to having a game like this and I also said we had to play almost flawless to beat good football teams,” Bowling continued. “Tonight, we did that. And we did it on both sides of the ball.
“We were methodical on offense. We had the big pass play, but we didn’t have a lot of huge chunk plays. We just took what they gave us and worked behind another good effort by our offensive line.
“We looked better defensively too. The main thing we did in practice last week was go back to the basics. Sometimes, you try to do too much and you out-think yourselves as coaches. We put kids in places where they could react and make plays without having to think too much. And that really worked a lot better for us.”
Tilghman was No. 2 on the Tornado tackle chart with eight stops from his cornerback post, while linebacker Alexander Cox was credited with six solos and seven tackles in all.
Union City will now turn its attention to road games against McKenzie and Halls to finish out the regular season with still a chance to finish as high as second place in Region 7-2A while qualifying for the playoffs.
First things first, though, is a trip to McKenzie where the Rebels whipped a mistake-prone and seemingly uninterested Tornado squad 31-14 last season.
“I don’t think anything will have to be said about last year (in practice next week),” Bowling concluded. “They really put it on us, and I believe our kids remember that.
“All we really can do, though, is build off of this game. We still control our own fate as far as making the playoffs. More than anything, we control how much better we can get every day.”
Next week’s game at McKenzie will kick off at 7:30 p.m.
Union City 49, Dyersburg 21
Dyersburg 7 7 7 0 — 21
Union City 7 21 21 0 — 49
D — Israel Barbee 25 run (Grant Self kick). 6:53, 1st
UC — Wes Tilghman 14 run (Miguel Sanchez kick). 1:27, 1st
UC — Travon Westbrook 89 pass from Sam Theobald (Sanchez kick). 9:46, 2nd
D — Dontavis Vaughn 4 run (Self kick). 6:20, 2nd
UC — Theobald 17 run (Sanchez kick). 1:07, 2nd
UC — Theobald 5 run (Sanchez kick). 0:11, 2nd
UC — Westbrook 46 run (Sanchez kick). 10:30, 3rd
UC — Theobald 28 run (Sanchez kick). 7:00, 3rd
D — Vaughn 28 run (Self kick). 5:29, 3rd
UC — Justin Wiggins 3 run (Sanchez kick). 0:25, 3rd
D UC
Total Offense 318 498
Rush Att.-Yards 34-257 59-409
Comp.-Att.-Int 4-10-1 1-1-0
Passing Yards 61 89
First Downs 14 26
Punts-Avg. 2-35.0 —
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 6-47 3-40
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Dyersburg — Israel Barbee 15-119, Dontavis Vaughn 12-110, Meshach Jones 4-23, Tyler Lee 1-3, Graham Clark 2-2 . Union City — Sam Theobald 20-166, Justin Wiggins 26-121, Travon Westbrook 5-82, Wes Tilghman 6-42, Team 2-(-2).
PASSING: Dyersburg — Graham Clark 4-10-1—61. Union City — Sam Theobald 1-1-0—89.
RECEIVING: Dyersburg — Dontavis Vaughn 2-21, Justin Jernigan 1-26, K.J. Howard 1-4. Union City — Travon Westbrook 1-89.
RECORDS: Dyersburg 3-4; Union City 4-4.
NEXT GAME: UC plays at McKenzie, Friday, Oct. 18, at 7:30 p.m.
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