By Mike Hutchens, Union City Schools Communications Director
A “little” rain and mud never hurt anybody.
It certainly didn’t seem to bother Union City in the Golden Tornadoes’ second preseason football scrimmage.
Working against Peabody in less-than-ideal conditions after more than 12 inches of torrential rain had fallen over a 24-hour period, UC scored three touchdowns and held the Tide scoreless in a Friday session at the Twister practice field.
Union City had two other scores negated by penalty and never allowed Trenton near the goal line until Peabody reserves scored on the last play of the 90-minute scrimmage.
While most area teams canceled or postponed their sessions due to severe area flooding, Tornado head coach Nick Markle — who raved about the efforts of the UC Turf Management team to get the field ready for play — believed it was important for his team to keep its scheduled session with the Tide.
“We talk a lot about not letting outside factors be distractions to us, and the weather and field conditions fit into that category,” Markle said after the scrimmage. “Whether it’s the heat of the preseason or these monsoon-type rains we had in the last 24 hours, we want our kids to be able to deal with those things and not use them as excuses.
“Football is such a unique game in that – if you can play until November and December – you’ll encounter about every type of weather there is. It becomes a mentality to ignore the elements and take care of business. Today was a good lesson in that.”
The UC coaching staff, which drew praise from Markle, liked most of what they saw in the second preseason outing of the year for the Purple and Gold.
The Tornadoes scored on each of their first three offensive series and held Peabody to only a handful of significant gains. Fullback Jacob Arnold opened the scoring with a one-yard plunge after a methodical march before quarterback Keaten Brown – who had several physical runs – reached paydirt on keepers covering 10 and 40 yards.
Brown also had a short pass to Tayehari Jones that turned into a long scoring play before being brought back by a penalty flag.
Back-up quarterbacks Kirben Thompson and Zac Summers each had several good moments, including a TD pass to Kyle Price and a touchdown run that was wiped away due to a penalty.
Union City linemen Kelan Roberson, Jayce Rogers, and Corbin Avery drew praise from Markle, as did Cohen Woods, a young, converted running back who has taken a starting job in the trenches out of necessity.
“I’m just surrounded by so many good coaches who coach our kids up on every play and during every break,” Markle added. “Our kids are taught to play hard-nosed football on every snap, and we’ve really focused on discipline and conditioning in the preseason. I think, even when we made mistakes, you could see that because our kids rallied to the ball and hustled to cover up those mistakes.
The Twister defense was again a stingy unit that got multiple hats on Trenton ball carriers on every play while forcing a pair of turnovers.
“We put in a drill during camp that we do every day, and its sole focus is the pursuit to the football and good leverage. I could see the effects of that drill today,” Markle concluded.
Union City will now turn its attention to its final preseason tune-up – the second annual Purple and Gold Jamboree against perennial 3A power Covington next Friday at War Memorial Stadium.
Photos courtesy of Mike Hutchens
