By Mike Hutchens, Union City Schools Communications Director
Union City football looked a lot more like Union City football on Friday night.
Reeling after an 0-2 start, and particularly following a subpar performance last week at USJ, the Golden Tornadoes rebounded from that frustration with a solid 20-7 victory over Class 4A Dyer County at War Memorial Stadium.
Adrian Crawford returned an interception 81 yards for a touchdown, Finn Frankum kicked a pair of field goals, and the UC defense held the Choctaws without a first down on just seven snaps in the second half to get the Purple and Gold into the win column for the first time this season.
“Last week was disappointing for us all – starting at the top and going all the way down to the youngest player on our team,” Twister head coach Nick Markle said afterward. “That’s not who we are. We didn’t feel sorry for ourselves though. We attacked the week of preparation, starting on Sunday, and it was all about getting better to play Dyer County.
“Tonight, we just wanted to play Union City football. And we did that for 48 minutes. It was hard, it was gritty, it was sometimes nasty and sometimes ugly. But it was effective. And that’s us.”
Quarterback Keaten Brown ran for 146 yards and the Tornadoes’ only offensive touchdown on 31 carries, and fellow hard-charging fullback Jacob Arnold added 82 yards on 19 attempts as Union City relentlessly hammered and ultimately wore down the DC defense.
The Twisters – playing with a much-greater sense of purpose – ran 27 more offensive plays than did the visitors and dominated time of possession, especially in the second half when they kept the ball nearly 11 consecutive minutes out of the halftime break.
“Hats off to both our senior linemen who led us, and the younger guys who stepped up when they had to,” Markle said. “We simplified things a little after last week and really leaned on our two horses (Brown and Arnold). They’re special young men.
“I thought it was very telling that we wore them (DC) down in the second half. They started to struggle because they stayed on the field for so long. We just continued to do what we do best, and that’s us being physical.”
The Tornado defense more than carried its share of the load, with Crawford’s pick-and-dash late in the final seconds of the first quarter easily the most critical play of the contest. The Choctaws were threatening UC’s 3-0 lead before the sophomore defensive back stepped in front of Luke Robertson’s attempted pass to the outside and sprinted nearly the length of the field with his first career interception.
Crawford, Arnold, and Aiden Reid – the latter of whom missed last week with an arm injury – had seven tackles apiece to pace the Union City defense. Brown, Tucker Davis, and Andre Small all were in on five stops for a unit that limited Dyer County to just five yards after halftime and but 126 for the entire game.
Brown’s 32-yard touchdown through heavy traffic capped an eight-play, 73-yard drive to open the second half and put UC up 17-7.
Frankum, who’d banged through a 34-yard field goal following the Twisters’ second possession, hit again from 20 yards out with six minutes to play in the game.
The final margin could’ve actually been much more comfortable for Union City. Twice the Tornadoes were stopped at the DC one-yard-line on downs, and the contest ended with UC holding possession at the Choctaw three.
“I do believe we got the best out of our kids this week,” Markle concluded. “And I know they got the best out of our coaches. Win, lose, or draw, we’re in this together. We still have a ton of work to do, and plenty of areas where we can get better.
“I just want us to continue being who we are.”
Union City will open Region 7-1A play next week with a trip to Gleason to face the unbeaten Bulldogs (3-0).
