Union City, Tenn.–A win is a win.
And nobody on the Union City side is looking at Friday night’s 28-12 victory over Fulton County any other way.
“At the end of the season, no one will remember how ugly this was,” Tornado head coach Nick Markle said after his team overcame five turnovers and 110 yards of penalties to beat FC for the fifth time in as many all-time meetings.
“Sure, we have some things to clean up. And sure, there were some things – like ball security and the penalties – that drive us coaches crazy. We’ll get those things fixed.
“What we’re interested in right now, though, is stacking wins. And this is two. “
Despite a shaky start in which the unit gave up 105 passing yards and two touchdowns in the first seven-plus minutes, the UC defense made enough plays to bail out an offense that lost four fumbles and threw an interception.
Hayden Kennedy returned the first of four Tornado interceptions seven yards for a touchdown that gave the Purple and Gold the lead for good in the waning seconds of the opening period. James Burcham later came up with a couple of picks – both when the Pilots were threatening — and Durrell Littleton snagged another interception at the UC four.
Sophomore end Hayden Moon came up huge, too, bursting on the scene with four quarterback sacks as the Twisters held Fulton County to just 50 total yards and three first downs in the second half.
Alexander Cox topped the tackle chart with eight total hits, while Travon Westbrook was in on six. Gage Smith, Jonathan Stone and Moon ended up with five stops apiece.
“I thought the momentum really turned with Hayden Kennedy’s pick-six,” Markle said. “We were then able to get some guys around the ball and make some other plays in the secondary.
“(Hayden) Moon as a sophomore came in fresh and really did a good job of doing what we asked him to do by getting pressure on their quarterbacks. And the guys really tightened up in the back end of the defense.”
The UC offense sputtered with the aforementioned turnovers but did pile up 384 yards.
Quarterback Wes Tilghman posted his third 100-yard rushing game (143) in as many starts and scored a pair of touchdowns. With Kyrell Littleton sitting out a second straight contest with a knee injury, Westbrook and Smith picked up the slack with 68 and 67 yards, respectively – Smith salting away the outcome with a three-yard TD midway through the fourth quarter.
“We moved the ball, but we just can’t have the fumbles if we’re going to be a running football team,” Markle added. “It wasn’t just one guy either. I don’t know if it was the high humidity that led to so much moisture and we went through a lot of towels. Those are just excuses, though, and I’m not interested in them.
“I thought our guys got a little frustrated by all the penalties that took away so many big gainers. We had just one penalty for 11 yards last week, and it seemed like we were getting flagged every three plays.
“We were able to persevere though.”
UC overcame two holding penalties to score on its first possession and got a 27-yard pass competition from Tilghman to Grant Jernigan to set up its third touchdown with just under eight minutes left in the first half.
The Tornadoes were flagged four times on a drive just before the intermission that fizzled after reaching the Fulton County five.
Union City turned the ball over on four straight series to open the second half before ending any suspense about the outcome with a six-play, 62-yard scoring sequence that featured nice gainers by Stone, Smith and Tilghman before Smith bulled his way into the endzone.
“Looking forward, we just have to take care of ourselves,” the UC coach concluded. “We’re relatively healthy after three games, and we’ve gotten into a routine now of how to practice on game weeks and how to prepare.
“It’s an advantage for us to have played three straight weeks with everything that’s going on in other places. We just have to keep on getting better and finding ways to win, even when we aren’t at our best.”
Union City (2-1, 1-0) plays host Gibson County (1-2, 1-0) in a critical Region 7-2A contest next Friday and will celebrate Senior Night in pregame ceremonies.
Union City 28, Fulton County 12
Fulton Co. 12 0 0 0 — 12
Union City 14 7 0 7 — 28
SCORING
FC — DiAvian Bradley 1 run (kick failed) 9:22, 1st
UC — Wes Tilghman 6 run (Miguel Sanchez kick) 5:39, 1st
FC — Broc Bridges 23 pass from Max Gibbs (kick failed) 4:47, 1st
UC — Hayden Kennedy 7 interception return (Miguel Sanchez kick) 0:04, 1st
UC — Tilghman 1 run (Sanchez kick) 7:22, 2nd
UC — Gage Smith 3 run (Miguel Sanchez kick) 7:38, 4th
FC UC
Total Offense 227 384
Rush Att.-Yards 27-93 52-335
Comp.-Att.-Int 6-22-4 2-6-1
Passing Yards 134 49
First Downs 13 18
Punts-Avg. 2-34.0 —
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 4-4
Penalties-Yds. 15-115 10-110
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Fulton Co. — DiAvian Bradley 8-48, Deivyn Turner 5-28, Max Gibbs 10-15, Dylan Hammond 1-9, Josh Cole 1-3, Bentlee Johnson 2-(-10). Union City — Wes Tilghman 20-143, Travon Westbrook 11-68, Gage Smith 12-67, Jonathan Stone 2-34, Jacob Arnold 2-23, Durrell Littleton 4-10, Team 1-(5).
PASSING: Fulton Co. — Max Gibbs 4-18-4 – 134, Bentlee Johnson 0-3-0 — 0, Deivyn Turner 0-1-0 —0. Union City — Wes Tilghman 2-6-1 — 49.
RECEIVING: Fulton Co. — Deivyn Turner 2-82, Broc Bridges 2-32, Josh Cole 1-13, DiAvian Bradley 1-7. Union City — Grant Jernigan 1-27, Alexander Cox 1-22.
RECORDS: Fulton Co. 0-1; Union City 2-1.
NEXT GAME: Union City celebrates Senior Night and hosts Gibson County in a Region 7-2A game, Friday, Sept. 18.