By Mike Hutchens, Union City Schools Communications Director
The combined production of two standout rushers proved to be considerably better than that of one.
Jacob Arnold and Keaten Brown teamed to run for 358 yards and four touchdowns to help seventh-ranked Union City lock up second place in Region 7A with a 48-16 mercy rule thumping of Lake County Thursday night.
The Golden Tornadoes (7-3), winners of seven of their last eight games, earned a home game in the first round of the postseason with the victory and will host Westwood (4-6) next Friday.
UC’s duo of Arnold (217 yards) and Brown (141 yards) stole the spotlight in Thursday’s regular-season finale from Calvin Mullins, the Falcons’ heralded running back who entered the contest reportedly among the nation’s top rushers.
Mullins, with more than 2,200 yards in nine previous games, did run for 155 yards on 23 carries vs. the Twisters before being injured early in the third quarter. The gritty senior racked up 92 yards on two of his first-half carries, but the Union City defense held him mostly in check the rest of the contest, as a dozen of his attempts went for three yards or less.
Arnold, meanwhile, was a beast for the Tornadoes. He followed up last year’s 222-yard, four-touchdown effort against Lake County with an equally impressive feat Thursday that put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the second season in a row.
The relentless senior fullback piled up his huge yardage total on just 14 carries. He had runs of 65, 45, and 40 yards, scoring on the 40-yard scamper and another from three yards out.
Arnold now has 1,205 yards and has averaged more than nine yards per carry.
Brown was the perfect wingman Thursday, needing just nine attempts to rack up his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the year. He scored on runs of 11 and 19 yards, giving him a team-best 17 TDs.
Brown needs just 90 more yards to join Arnold in the 1,000-yard club in back-to-back seasons.
Of course, none of those statistics would’ve been possible without the efforts of Kelan Roberson, Davis Hayes, Corban Avery, Jayce Rogers, and Cohen Wood, who dominated the trenches and paved the way for 432 rushing yards all totaled.
“How many runs did Jacob and Keaten have where they just ran through and over people for extra yards?” UC head coach Nick Markle rhetorically asked afterward. “It all started up front where our physicality was most evident. And that’s a testament to the work our guys do in our grueling offseason and every day during the season. They consistently answer the bell.
“We knew coming into the game we’d have to tackle number 24 (Mullins), and we knew they had other good athletes. But we really didn’t know if they could stop us offensively. What we do is difficult to simulate when you’re preparing for us, and I thought our depth became a factor as early as the second quarter.
“My message to our guys in the pregame was to start fast, hold onto the ball, be patient, and lean on them. We did all those things and came out with the result I thought we could have.”
Tayehari Jones also scored a pair of touchdowns for the second straight week for UC – including his fourth kick return to paydirt of the year. Having already brought back three punts for scores, Jones scooped up a Falcon kickoff and darted 76 yards to the endzone as the first-half clock expired to give his team a 35-8 intermission advantage.
Jones’ other six-pointer came on an 11-yard run.
Jaylen Marshall ran five yards for the Twisters’ final TD halfway through the third quarter when the clock was running continuously. The final period was shortened to eight minutes.
Roberson clogged up the middle at nose guard and posted a team-high 10 tackles to pace the Tornado defense. Aiden Reid was in on nine stops, and Cohen Simpson had seven tackles – two for lost yards.
UC will make its 19th straight state playoff appearance and 32nd overall when the postseason begins next week. The Purple and Gold has an all-time playoff record of 54-27, with four state championships in its decorated history.
