By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Nick Markle’s watery eyes had nothing to do with the flu-like symptoms he battled in the days before Union City’s second-round round playoff game at Westview.
They were, instead, the emotions of one proud football coach.
“I just wanted to step back here in the endzone and watch them celebrate and soak up every minute of it,” an emotional Markle said after his squad avenged a regular season loss and officially dethroned the Class 2A state champions with a hard-fought 10-6 victory over the fourth-ranked Chargers Friday night.
“These guys and these coaches picked me up this week because I was under the weather. It was a grind, but they were locked in. I’ve never had a team be so focused the entire week of practice. It was stone-silent on the bus ride over here, and I could tell our guys were intent on doing whatever it took to win this game.
“I think I’m the luckiest coach in the world.”
Next up for the 10th-ranked 10-2 Tornadoes in the state quarterfinals is another rematch – this one against No. 6 Huntingdon, which beat UC 27-20 in the teams’ regular-season finale three weeks ago. The Mustangs (10-2) routed second-ranked and previously unbeaten Fairley 48-6 in Memphis Friday night.
Union City weathered a multitude of mistakes and bad breaks in punching its Round 3 ticket, including three touchdowns that were negated by penalty and 100 yards of flags in all. Together, the two teams were hit for 21 penalties.
But a stifling defensive effort that bottled up a Charger offense missing injured starting quarterback Craig Ross made a first-quarter touchdown run by Durrell Littleton and a critical 34-yard field goal in the fourth period by Finn Frankum stand up.
The Twisters limited a Charger attack that had rolled up more than 400 yards in the teams’ first meeting to just 76 total yards and a lone TD halfway through the final stanza. UC’s front seven dominated the line of scrimmage, recording 13 tackles for lost yards and limiting Martin to minus 10 yards rushing on 21 attempts.
Relentless ball-chaser Gage Smith – who also was UC’s top rusher with 65 hard-earned yards inside – had a team-high 11 tackles and three sacks from his linebacker post. Jacob Arnold had five stops and a game-sealing interception with under two minutes to play, while Kelan Roberson, Hayden Kennedy and Cohen Simpson also shined with four tackles apiece.
“Things aren’t always going to go your way, and there was some crazy stuff that went on with both sides with all the flags,” continued Markle, who noted that his team was penalized for 115 yards in the teams’ first meeting. “I guess we like doing things the hard way. Our guys showed great resiliency. They were tough, and they hit ‘reset’ every time something went wrong or against us.
“And our defense was simply lights-out. We were good in the box and on the perimeter. We didn’t make a lot out of injuries the first time we played, but it was obvious tonight that having those guys who were hurt earlier made a real difference.”
Union City needed just five snaps on its first series to take an immediate lead, with Smith ripping off a 16-yard pick-up before Littleton smoked the Charger defense and ran over a would-be tackler on his way to a TD sprint. Frankum’s point-after made it 7-0 at 4:35 of the opening frame.
Tayehari Jones had touchdown runs in the first and second quarter called back due to penalty, and quarterback Keaten Brown had a scoring jaunt wiped off in the fourth period before Frankum had his 34-yard field goal just skim over the crossbar for a 10-0 Twister lead with just under eight minutes to play.
Westview – which had won nine straight after an 0-2 start to the season – took advantage of two of UC’s 10 penalties to score their only touchdown when Quincy Hamilton threw a pass to Nolan Pritchett at the halfway mark of the final stanza to draw the hosts within 10-6.
And the Chargers had a late chance to win before Arnold snatched a Hamilton aerial with less than two minutes to go to essentially seal the outcome.
Continuing to watch his players joyously mingle with several fans who came onto the field afterward, Markle reflected on his squad’s commitment to extend their season to at least one more week.
“Weight room,” he responded when asked how his players survived and advanced. “We’re continuing to get stronger. We don’t just maintain. We build on what we’ve done in the offseason and earlier in the year.
“I truly believe that’s important if you want to play 15 weeks. And our boys are driven in that area. Their continued hard work is paying off.”
Kickoff for the UC-Huntingdon game at Paul Ward Stadium next week is set for 7 p.m.
UNION CITY 10, WESTVIEW 6
Union City 7 0 0 3 — 10
Westview 0 0 0 6 — 6
UC — Durrell Littleton 26 run (Finn Frankum kick) 4:35, 1st
UC — Frankum 34 yard field goal 7:59, 4th
W — Nolan Pritchett 20 pass from Quincy Hamilton (kick failed) 6:16, 4th
UC W
Total Offense 261 76
Rush Att.-Yards 53-261 21-(-10)
Passing Yards 0 86
Comp.-Att.-Int 0-1-1 9-16-1
First Downs 14 5
Punts-Avg. 2-24.0 4-30.2
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-Yds. 10-100 11-90
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Union City – Gage Smith 14-65, Kolby Craig 10-62, Durrell Littleton 4-47, Keaten Brown 14-42, Tayehari Jones 5-39, Jacob Arnold 4-9. Team 2-(-3). Westview — Quincy Hamilton 7-7, Drew Shanklin 3-1, Miles Vincent 11-(-19).
PASSING: Union City — Keaten Brown 0-1-0 – 0. Westview — Quincy Hamilton 3-4-1 —59, Miles Vincent 6-12-0 — 27.
RECEIVING: Union City — None. Westview — Nolan Pritchett 2-35, Drew Shanklin 2-13, Hayden Smith 1-24, Jayden Johns 1-9, Cooper Spaulding 1-4, Quincy Hamilton 1-4, Omarion Harris 1-(-3).
RECORDS: Union City 10-2, Westview 9-3.
NEXT GAME: UC plays at Huntingdon in the Class 2A state quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m.