By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–The combination of Steele Haynes and critical penalties proved to be Union City’s undoing against USJ.
Haynes ran for 239 yards and four touchdowns, and untimely flags killed three Tornado scoring chances in what was ultimately a 35-7 UC loss to University School of Jackson Friday on the Bruins’ turf.
Haynes, who caught three TD passes in last season’s USJ victory over the Purple and Gold, flashed his fleet feet on the first play of Friday’s contest when he dashed 73 yards to paydirt.
He later added scoring runs of 24, 20 and two yards as the Bruins – Division II Class 1A state runners-up the last two seasons — built a 28-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Haynes aside, Union City hurt itself with drive thwarting flags that halted each of three marches that reached the USJ 30-yard line or beyond.
The Tornadoes, who dominated time of possession and ran 66 offensive plays to the host team’s 30 snaps, did finally convert on a scoring opportunity when Keaten Brown found Gage Smith for a 25-yard TD pass with a little more than eight minutes to go that cut the deficit to 28-7.
UC head coach Nick Markle acknowledged his team’s penalty woes afterward, taking full blame for the critical miscues.
“It all starts and stops with me, and it’s unacceptable,” Markle insisted. “Actually, I think most of the penalties came against some of our guys who haven’t played a lot of football. They might be juniors or seniors, but they don’t have much game experience and make many freshman and sophomore mistakes.
“And with what we do offensively, we simply can’t make the errors that put us behind the chains. We must progress every down. We can’t go backward. Every time we got ourselves into good positions to get some points, we got sloppy. You can’t beat good football teams that way. And USJ is a very good football team.”
The Twisters’ methodical triple-option attack did have its moments – though not enough of them.
Kolby Craig and freshman Tahehari Jones gave UC an edge presence to counter the inside pounding of fullback Kyrell Littleton and quarterback Keaten Brown. Littleton was a workhorse with a 28-carry, 80-yard output, while Craig finished with 75 yards on nine rushes. Jones also contributed on special teams with a 50-yard kickoff return.
“I love our guys, I really do,” Markle added. “They continued to play hard and grind until the very end. A lot of teams would’ve hung their heads and quit, being down 21-0 early in the second quarter.
“But we showed a lot of maturity. We didn’t bicker. There was no finger-pointing when things didn’t go our way. That speaks of our character and our heart. I think the guys know we’re a good football team, and they’re intent on becoming a great football team.”
Craig paced the Twisters defensively with seven tackles, two of those for losses. Both Smith and Jacob Arnold were in on six stops apiece.
Union City will celebrate homecoming and open Region 7-2A play next week when Houston County plays at War Memorial Stadium.
USJ 35, Union City 7
Union City 0 0 0 7 — 7
USJ 14 7 7 7 — 35
SCORING
USJ — Steele Haynes 73 run (Ben Pledger kick) 11:42, 1st
USJ — Haynes 24 run (Pledger kick) 8:32, 1st
USJ — Haynes 20 run (Pledger kick) 11:08, 2nd
USJ — Haynes 2 run (Pledger kick) 6:14, 3rd
UC — Gage Smith 25 pass from Keaten Brown (Sanchez kick) 8:24, 4th
USJ — Kevin Finch 15 run (Pledger kick) 4:28, 4th
UC USJ
Total Offense 249 345
Rush Att.-Yards 63-224 23-287
Comp.-Att.-Int 1-3-0 4-7-0
Passing Yards 25 58
First Downs 17 14
Punts-Avg. 3-29.8 2-38
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 9-84 7-50
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City — Kyrell Littleton 28-80, Kaleb Craig 9-75, Keaten Brown 21-59, Tayehari Jones 4-8, Jacob Arnold 1-2. USJ — Steele Haynes 14-239, Kevin Finch 3-33, Berkley Pettigrew 6-15.
PASSING: Union City — Keaten Brown 1-3-0 – 25. USJ — Berkley Pettigrew 4-7-0 — 58.
RECEIVING: Union City — Gage Smith 1-25. USJ — Raleigh Seals 2-45, Jayce Barksdale 2-13.
RECORDS: Union City 1-1, USJ 1-1.
NEXT GAME: UC hosts Houston County Friday for homecoming.