By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–A pair of freshman cornerbacks saved the day for Union City.
Tayehari Jones returned a late-game interception 86 yards for a touchdown and Cohen Simpson thwarted Gibson County’s final rally with another pick with less than a minute to play to help the Tornadoes hold off Gibson County 14-12 Friday night in Dyer.
The win bettered UC’s overall mark to 4-1 and left the Purple and Gold 2-0 and tied with state-ranked entries Westview and Huntingdon for the top spot in Region 7-2A at the season’s midway point.
The heroics of Jones and Simpson salvaged what was an otherwise a shaky performance by the Tornadoes, who were guilty of three turnovers and penalized more than 100 yards against an upset-minded GC squad that hung around and had chances until the very end.
But Jones snagged a tipped John Phillips pass at his team’s 14 yard-line after the Pioneers had driven to the Union City 21 and sped down the Gibson County side for a TD that put the Twisters up 14-6 following Miguel Sanchez’ PAT with 3:52 to play.
And after the host team had drawn to within 14-12 and was driving toward a possible game-winning score, Simpson darted in front of a Phillips aerial at the UC 27, capping a five-turnover night by the Tornado defense and sealing the win with 31 seconds to play.
“Huge… just huge,” a relieved Tornado head coach Nick Markle said of the two deciding plays after the contest. “The situation wasn’t too big for them. They both rose up and made huge plays at the most opportune times and they kept their heads up when they’d made some poor plays earlier.”
Equally as vital to the UC win was the play of Gage Smith, who turned in a monster game on both sides of the ball.
Filling in at the featured fullback spot with the absence of leading rusher Kyrell Littleton (school discipline), Smith was a workhorse and finished with 122 yards on 30 carries. He was perhaps more impressive at linebacker where he made a team-high 12 tackles to lead the Purple and Gold hit list. Smith also had one of two UC fumble recoveries.
“I’m not sure there are enough good things to say about Gage Smith,” Markle added. “He’s hard-nosed, he plays for his teammates, and I love how he practices and how he carries himself at school. He’s a true blue-collar football player and we don’t win tonight without him.
“I love him, and I’m proud to be his football coach.”
Smith’s “next-man-up” effort continued a practice that has seen Union City continue to find ways to win over the first half of the season despite losing starting linemen and its No. 1 quarterback to injury in addition to Littleton’s absence Friday.
“It’s been something every week, yet our guys rally around the next guy in the rotation,” Markle added. “What a great bunch of kids who truly care about each other.
“They got off the bus here tonight and just refused to lose. No matter how many mistakes they made, no matter what all went against them, they were not going to be denied. Nobody blinks. They just don’t get overwhelmed by anything that goes on in the course of a game.”
Keaten Brown, the team’s starting quarterback who has been sidelined with injured thumb, did play defense Friday and came up with a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and five overall tackles. Hayden Kennedy was in on eight stops, Jacob Arnold recorded six tackles, and Kolby Craig snagged a third interception for the victors.
Union City took its opening possession and drove 80 yards for its only offensive score of the night.
Quarterback Jackson Chism had a 33-yard keeper and Kolby Craig broke loose for a 16-yard pickup to highlight the 11-play march that ended with Chism’s one-yard sneak into the endzone.
The Tornadoes turned the ball over twice in their other three first-half possessions, though, with a wild snap that led to a huge loss killing one drive and three penalties hampering another.
UC had just 89 total yards in the second half and was flagged seven times for 75 yards.
“We obviously have a lot of things to clean up,” Markle concluded. “Mistakes are going to happen, but we compounded a lot of things with some foolish personal foul penalties.
“We can’t keep putting the ball on the ground and getting behind the chains. We gave Gibson County some extra possessions and ended up stopping ourselves on several drives. That just won’t cut it against the meat portion of our schedule that’s coming up.”
Union City will play its third straight road game next week, facing Class 3A Ripley.
UNION CITY 14, GIBSON CO. 12
Union City 7 0 0 7 — 14
Gibson Co. 0 6 0 6 — 12
SCORING
UC — Jackson Chism 1 run (Miguel Sanchez kick) 4:31 1st
GC — Jay Allen 80 run (kick failed) 3:54, 2nd
UC — Tayehari Jones 86 interception return 3:52 4th
GC — Colton Lumpkin 45 pass from Jay Allen (pass failed) 3:42, 4th
UC GC
Total Offense 276 272
Rush Att.-Yards 62-276 25-176
Comp.-Att.-Int 0-3-1 4-11-3
Passing Yards 0 96
First Downs 15 8
Punts-Avg. 3-36.6 2-32.0
Fumbles-Lost 4-2 4-2
Penalties-Yds. 11-102 2-10
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Gage Smith 30-122, Kolby Craig 6-59, Jackson Chism 18-57, Jacob Arnold 4-39, Tayehari Jones 2-21, Team 2-(-21). Gibson Co. — Jay Allen 8-125, John Phillips 9-29, Colton Lumpkin 8-22.
PASSING: Union City — Jackson Chism 0-3-1 – 0. Gibson Co. — John Phillips 3-9-3 — 51, Jay Allen 1-1-0 – 45, Reese McVay 0-1-0 – 0.
RECEIVING: Union City — None. Gibson Co. — Colton Lumpkin 1-45, Ethan Turner 1-30, Jay Allen 1-12, Reese McVay 1-9,
RECORDS: Union City 4-1; Gibson Co. 0-4 (0-2).
NEXT GAME: UC plays at Ripley (3-2), Friday night at 7.