Union City’s first preseason football scrimmage of 2024 produced a predictable evaluation from head coach Nick Markle.
“It’s August 2nd. There are three more weeks until we open our season. We saw some good things and some things we need to get better at,” said the Tornado head coach, whose team participated in a three-way workout against Milan and Ripley Friday evening.
UC indeed exhibited some promise with a more-diversified offensive attack but had some defensive issues against the Bulldogs, who broke several would-be tackles on multiple long plays.
The Twisters scored four times in all – twice against both the Tigers and Bulldogs. Sophomore quarterback Zak Summers and senior signal-caller Troy Joslin each engineered two touchdown marches and completed a handful of passes to compliment Union City’s traditional strong running game.
Summers hooked up with Adrian Crawford for a 20-yard TD after he scrambled for a couple of big gainers on the Tornadoes’ first possession vs. Ripley. On UC’s second series, Summers connected with fullback Aiden Reid on a short scoring toss after two nice completions earlier in a methodical march against Milan.
Joslin got some work and had a long pick-up on a running play and a hook-up with Tayehari Jones that set up a short Reid touchdown against Ripley.
Jones capped Union City’s scoring with a 60-yard scoring sprint vs. the Milan defense.
In between, Milan scored on three consecutive plays against the Twisters and ended up with five TDs on the day. Ripley failed to score vs. UC but did find the endzone twice vs. the Bulldogs.
“For the most part, I was happy with our effort and our conditioning,” Markle added. “We had a couple of two-way starters we held out for precautionary reasons, and some of the younger, less-proven guys who played in their places had some struggles. And we had some busted coverages and assignments, too, from some guys who were facing live competition for the first time.
“Bottom line, it was our first scrimmage, and we did some things – good and bad – that fit that narrative. We can and will get better, no doubt.”
Union City will scrimmage for a second time next Friday at Trenton at 6 p.m.