By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Friday’s first scrimmage of the preseason was a mixture of promise and work-to-be-done for the Union City football team.
The Tornadoes outscored Dresden three-touchdowns-to-two in a two-hour secession that wrapped up the first week of practice in full pads for both programs.
UC scored on three of its four offensive possessions with methodical drives and reached the Lions’ one-yard line on its last offensive sequence. Defensively, the Purple and Gold allowed only an opening TD by Dresden and rallied to the ball with several tacklers on almost every play.
The Lions’ other touchdown came on a scoop-and-score return – capitalizing on one of a half-dozen Union City fumbles in the scrimmage.
Twister head coach Nick Markle declared himself pleased overall with his troops afterward.
“I thought we did some really good things,” said the leader of a UC staff that regularly encouraged their squad in the spirited workout. “We played with energy, and we really did a good job of flying to the football on defense.
“Offensively, we did some good things, too, but they were overshadowed by us not holding onto the football several times. We’ll see some other things on the film that need our attention, but I thought this was a good starting point for us as a whole.”
Kyrell Littleton scored two of the Tornadoes’ three touchdowns, culminating long marches by Union City’s option offense. Freshman Tayehari Jones capped the Twisters’ third scoring series with a short endzone scamper.
Both Keaton Brown and Jackson Chism did some good things at quarterback while guiding the offense. Brown connected twice with Gage Smith for nice gains, while Chism made a handful of excellent reads while running the option.
Damon Rice had a pair of interceptions on defense, though the second pick was wiped out via penalty.
Union City will scrimmage again at home next Friday, hosting Dyer County at 5:30.