The perfect play-call at the perfect time led to a perfect ending for Union City.
Cohen Simpson caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Zak Summers with just eight seconds to play to lift the Golden Tornadoes to a thrilling 35-28 season-opening victory at Murray Friday night.
Seemingly content to position themselves for a game-winning field goal attempt after hammering the Tiger defense with its punishing ground game for the last of its 23 first downs as the clock ticked down, UC instead stunned the host team with a beautifully thrown ball from Summers to Simpson after a textbook pump fake.
“We felt confident in our all-region kicker (Marcos Landeros), that we were well within his range,” Union City head coach Nick Markle said after opening his fifth campaign at the Twister helm. “With that in the bag, we just decided to take a shot.
“I felt confident that it was a good call and we were going to hit a home run. And we executed absolutely flawlessly.”
The in-stride catch capped a splendid night for Simpson, who also blocked a punt to set up another Tornado TD and picked off a Murray pass late in the first half to turn away a Tiger scoring threat.
“He’s our captain. He’s an elder statesman on our football team, and he’s matured tremendously the last two years,” Markle said of Simpson, who also had four solo tackles and finished with three catches for 36 yards. “He’s the tip of the spear for us.”
The back-and-forth contest that was tied four times before Union City’s late heroics matched contrasting styles – both of which were ultra-effective and combined to produce more than 800 total yards and 42 first downs.
The Twisters’ trademark physical running game churned out 346 yards on the ground behind a dominating offensive line effort. Fullback Aiden Reid powered his way to 142 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, while Summers kept for 98 yards and two scores on 21 attempts.
Tayehari Jones chipped in with 71 yards on just eight tries – skipping to paydirt on a 26-yard scamper to cap UC’s first drive and then picking up 32 yards on a fake punt to keep a fourth-quarter drive alive.
Murray countered with a high-flying passing attack that totaled 353 yards and four TDs from Wyatt Robbins. Robbins completed 22 passes in all – 11 of those in succession during one span in the second half. Isaiah Martin was on the receiving end of nine passes, three for scores, and 193 yards total.
“I was proud of our guys for persevering and answering every challenge,” Markle added. “We had some cramping, and it was hot, but we have some depth this year that we haven’t had in the past.
“We are who we are, and even though the touchdown pass at the end is something everyone will be talking about, I am so proud of our guys up front and the way they handled their business. We had a little heart-to-heart with them on Wednesday before practice, and the difference after that was night and day. They really answered the bell when it was gut-check time.”
Kirben Thompson and Grant Sinclair topped the UC tackle chart with seven apiece. Reid was in on six, and Alijah Simpson recorded four stops, including one for lost yards.
Landeros was perfect on all five of his PAT attempts.
The Tornadoes will open the home portion of their schedule next week when University School of Jackson visits War Memorial Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
Union City 7 14 0 14 — 35
Murray 7 0 14 7 — 28
UC — Tayehari Jones 26 run (Marcos Landeros kick). 9:36, 1st
M — Isaiah Martin 37 pass from Wyatt Robbins (Elias Houck kick). 5:49, 1st
UC — Zak Summers 1 run (Landeros kick). 11:27, 2nd
UC — Aiden Reid 4 run (Landeros kick). 4:30, 2nd
M — Tristen Dennis 8 pass from Robbins (Hank Fronza kick). 10:49 3rd
M — Martin 25 pass from Robbins (Fronza kick). 5:42, 3rd
UC — Summers 25 run (Landeros kick). 10:09, 4th
M — Martin 54 pass from Robbins (Fronza kick). 9:29, 4th
UC — Cohen Simpson 21 pass from Summers (Landeros kick). 0:08, 4th
UC M
Total Offense 383 428
Rush Att.-Yards 60-346 10-75
Comp.-Att.-Int. 5-6-1 22-34-1
Passing yards 37 353
First Downs 23 19
Punts-Avg. 1-34 1-3
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 7-64 9-75
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Aiden Reid 23-142, Zak Summers 21-98, Tayehari Jones 8-71, Kirben Thompson 7-27, Adrian Crawford 1-6. Murray — Simon Rickman 6-56, Wyatt Robbins 2-12, Zaye Richardson 2-7.
PASSING: Union City — Zak Summers 5-6-1—37. Murray — Wyatt Robbins 22-34-1—353.
RECEIVING: Union City — Cohen Simpson 3-36, Tucker Davis 1-2, Zak Summers 1-(-1). Murray — Isaiah Martin 9-193, Tristen Dennis 4-51, Jeremiah Jones 3-37, Simon Rickman 3-36, Zaye Richardson 2-26, Amarion Bomar 1-10.
RECORDS: Union City 1-0; Murray 0-1.
NEXT GAME: UC hosts University School of Jackson (USJ), Friday at 7 p.m.
