By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
If there were such a thing as a perfect homecoming script, Union City followed it to a ‘T’ Friday night.
The eighth-ranked Golden Tornadoes ignored the usual distractions that accompany the annual ritual and dominated outmanned South Fulton from start to finish in a 54-0 rout at War Memorial Stadium.
Senior Shelby Bondurant was crowned homecoming queen during halftime ceremonies. Her court consisted of Senior Princesses Ada Rogers and Emily Hammond, Junior Princess Davey Frankum, Sophomore Princess Ca’Lae Ervin, and Freshman Princess Jenna Kate Cross.
The win was UC’s third straight after an 0-2 start to the season and the Twisters’ second in as many Region 7-1A games. SF dropped its third consecutive outing and is winless in two league contests.
Jacob Arnold ran for 204 yards and four touchdowns on just five carries, while Aiden Reid and Tayehari Jones returned interceptions for TDs as the heavily favored Purple and Gold did the expected before turning things over to the team’s reserves and a continuously running clock before halftime.
Head coach Nick Markle was pleased with his squad’s focus throughout the week and in the contest.
“I want our guys to be kids because they’re just kids for a fleeting moment in their lives,” he said. “I wanted them to enjoy all the things that go with homecoming – the dress-up days, the assemblies, the competitions between classes. But at 2:45 every day, the fun and games were over.
“We went to work. Our coaching staff and our team leadership set the tone, and we worked all week to get better and take care of business tonight. We treat these games like playoff games, and that’s the mentality we have to have every week – no matter who the opposition is.
“The expectations of our program never change. We can and will never rest on our laurels.”
Arnold had TD runs of 51, 18, 48, and 87 yards, reaching the endzone on all but one of his attempts. He ran over, around, and through a Red Devil defense that gave up nearly 18 yards per carry on UC’s 21 rushes, the Twisters totaling 372 yards on the ground in all.
Reid snagged a deflected Bryce McFarland pass and darted 44 yards to paydirt to build on Union City’s 14-0 first-quarter lead. Jones then came up with his own pick on South Fulton’s next series and sped 58 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-0 with time still left in the opening period.
Arnold took off on scoring sprints of 48 and 87 yards in a short span of 2 ½ minutes in the second quarter. Quarterback Keaten Brown made it 47-0 at halftime with a two-yard plunge after Jones had a TD called back by penalty and Adrian Crawford sped for a 40-yard gainer.
Markle graciously played only reserves in the second half when the game clock was shortened to eight minutes for each of the final two quarters.
Back-up QB Zakary Summers led the jayvee offense to a score for the second straight week, keeping for a 20-yard TD with 5:20 to play.
“Situations like this and last week are great for our younger guys,” Markle continued. “They put in a lot of effort during the week (in practice) but don’t get a lot of shine. I can see them gaining confidence with every minute they’re on the field, and there will be some of them who earn themselves some snaps when the stakes are more important with their play in these types of games.
“Overall, I think our team as a whole played fast. And I believe that’s a byproduct of playing really good competition in the preseason and the first three weeks of the regular season. We obviously still have some things to work on, but I was pleased with how we played all the way around from start to finish.”
Reid had a team-high nine tackles as UC posted its first shutout since Oct. of 2021. Rex Griffin was a demon on special teams, with six of his eight stops on kick return plays. Kelan Roberson had seven hits, and Jayce Rogers was in on five tackles.
The Tornadoes will play at Greenfield next week in another Region 7-1A contest.
Union City 54, South Fulton 0
So. Fulton 0 0 0 0 — 0
Union City 27 20 0 7 — 54
UC — Jacob Arnold 51 run (kick failed). 9:41, 1st
UC — Arnold 18 run (Finn Frankum kick) 5:49, 1st
UC — Aiden Reid 44 interception return (Frankum kick) 3:42, 1st
UC — Tayehari Jones 58 interception return (Frankum kick) 1:52, 1st
UC — Arnold 48 run (Frankum kick) 10:04, 2nd
UC — Arnold 87 run (Frankum kick) 7:21, 2nd
UC — Keaten Brown 2 run (kick failed) 1:25, 2nd
UC — Zakary Summers 20 run (Marcos Landeros kick) 5:20, 4th
SF UC
Total Offense 127 379
Rush Att.-Yards 22-97 21-372
Passing Yards 30 7
Comp.-Att.-Int 8-21-2 1-2-1
First Downs 6 10
Punts-Avg. 4-29.5 1-35
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds. 2-10 5-55
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: South Fulton — Dallas Whitehead 14-68, Brady McFarland 5-27, Josh McKnight 2-7, Connor O’Neal 1-(-5). Union City — Jacob Arnold 5-204, Tayehari Jones 3-71, Adrian Crawford 1-40, Zakary Summers 1-20, Owen Waggoner 6-19, Keaten Brown 4-18, Jaylen Marshall 1-0.
PASSING: South Fulton — Brady McFarland 8-21-2 – 30. Union City — Keaten Brown 1-2-1 – 7.
RECEIVING: South Fulton — Jonathan Doss 4-17, Josh McKnight 3-3, Dallas Whitehead 1-10. Union City — Jacob Arnold 1-7.
RECORDS: South Fulton 2-3 (0-2); Union City 3-2 (2-0).
NEXT GAME: UC plays at Greenfield, Friday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.