Telegraph Staff Writer
An 82-yard pass play on the second play of the second half put the Union County High School football team in a 10-0 hole, but the Tigers scored touchdowns on four straight possessions to defeat host Dixie County 28-12 on Oct. 8.
The Tigers, who host Hollis Christian Academy on Friday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m., certainly didn’t play a perfect game, but in the end, they left Head Coach Andrew Thomas impressed. It was Union’s second road game, but Thomas said it was really his team’s first road test, and it came against a program he knows well and one that was celebrating homecoming.
“It’s never easy when you come here,” said Thomas, who graduated from Dixie County High School in 1995. “I coached here for nine years. I know the makeup of these kids and tough they are. It’s never easy against Dixie.”
Union (6-0) turned the ball over twice in the first half, which also included a touchdown negated by a penalty. Still, it was only a 3-0 game until the Bears (3-3) broke the long scoring play at the start of the second half.
“Nothing was going right for us,” Thomas said. “To be able to find a way to win — I’m proud of the character and the toughness of this bunch. We’re a young team. We really are in a lot of ways. It’s something to build off of.”
After a three-and-out to start the game, Union’s offense had a decent drive going, taking advantage of a pass-interference penalty and a 13-yard run by quarterback Martin Odum that put the Tigers at the Dixie 47. The Bears’ Kolton Hunt put an end to the drive with an interception, setting his offense up at the Union 45-yard line.
Whatever momentum the turnover generated was short-lived. The Tigers’ Dayviontae Thompson tackled quarterback Bret Nettles for a 1-yard loss on the Bears’ first play of the drive, while two plays later, Trevor Holtzendorf and Curran Webb combined to hold Nettles for no gain on a keeper, forcing Dixie to punt.
The punt pinned the Tigers at their own 3-yard line, but Rayvon Durant ripped off a 30-yard run to put some distance between Union and its end zone. A 1-yard run by Caleb Crawford later resulted in another first down, but the Tigers lost yardage on the next two plays and eventually punted.
A roughing-the-passer penalty against the Tigers seemed to provide a spark for the Dixie offense on the next series. In fact, penalties were a problem for Union on the drive as the Tigers were flagged twice for being offsides and another time for illegal substitution. The illegal-substitution penalty occurred prior to a fourth-and-4 play, giving Dixie a first down at the Tigers’ 20-yard line.
Putting the penalties behind them, the Tigers made a stand. Thompson tackled Hunt for a 6-yard loss, while Bryar Mitchell was held to a 1-yard gain by Union’s Jacob Jenkins. Webb then pressured Nettles into throwing an incompletion on third down. After a delay-of-game penalty, the Bears went for it on fourth-and-20, with Brenden Hall coming up 4 yards shy of the first on a reverse that went for 16 yards.
The Union offense took over at its own 14. Dixie was flagged for being offsides before the Tigers ran their first play, but the Bears recovered a fumble on the ensuing first-and-5 play, giving them the ball at the Union 25-yard line.
“We just never got in any rhythm,” Thomas said of his offense’s first-half performance.
Union was penalized for pass interference on the first play following the change of possession, but the Tigers then held the Bears to no gain on three straight run plays, with players such as Crawford, Jenkins and Erich Seager making tackles. Carson St. Laurent kicked a 29-yard field goal to put Dixie ahead 3-0 with 3:01 remaining in the first half.
Dixie was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct on the ensuing kickoff, which, with Daylyn Diston’s 14-yard return, put the Tigers at the Bears’ 35-yard line. The Tigers picked up a first down when Durant had a 10-yard run to the 20, but they eventually found themselves in a fourth-and-20 play following an 11-yard sack. Union went for it, with Odum throwing a touchdown pass to Dee Williams in the corner of the end zone, but a holding penalty wiped out the score. A 16-yard reception by Diston on fourth-and-30 resulted in a turnover on downs and allowed the Bears to go into halftime up 3-0.
The Tigers’ Hance Jones made a tackle for a loss of a yard on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, but the Bears’ Hall took a short pass down the sideline for an 85-yard touchdown on the next play as Dixie took a 10-0 lead.
Dixie’s homecoming crowd didn’t have much to cheer for after that.
A 16-yard run by Williams gave the Tigers a first down at the Dixie 39-yard line. Durant followed with a 25-yard run to the 14. Three plays later, Williams, who rushed for 37 yards on four carries, found the end zone on a 10-yard run. Jonathan Edwards added the extra point as the Tigers made it a 10-7 game at the 7:28 mark of the third quarter.
It wasn’t long before the Tigers took the lead. Diston intercepted a Nettles pass on the Bears’ ensuing series, setting Union up at the Dixie 22. A 14-yard reception by Evan Hall converted a third-and-9 play and gave Union first-and-goal at the 7. A 5-yard run by Crawford set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Diston with 3:26 remaining in the third quarter. Edwards added the PAT, putting the Tigers up 14-10.
“When we took the lead, it really kind of broke their back, so to speak,” Thomas said. “We were able to finish it off.”
A muffed punt by the Tigers did give Dixie good field position at the Union 38, but the Union defense held the Bears to 7 yards on three plays. Dixie went for it on fourth down, with Hunt being tackled inches shy of the first down.
Union then put together a 72-yard scoring drive, with the bulk of that yardage coming on a 53-yard run by Diston to the Dixie 10-yard line. Crawford carried the ball two straight times from there, crossing the goal line from 5 yards out on the second run to put the Tigers ahead 21-10 after Edwards added the PAT with 9:40 left in the game.
Diston finished with 71 yards on four carries, while Crawford had 62 yards on 13 carries.
Connor Bresee recovered a fumble that set the Union offense up at the Dixie 38. A 16-yard run by Crawford converted a third-and-10 play, while a 10-yard run by Durant moved the Tigers to the 12-yard line. Durant, who rushed for 109 yards on 16 carries, eventually capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run. Edwards kicked the extra point for a 28-10 lead with 7:10 to play.
Edwards, after missing his first extra-point attempt of the season, has now connected on 24 straight.
Dixie scored two points on a safety when an errant snap went out of the Union end zone.
The Bears’ last possession ended on an interception by Williams.
It was an effort Thomas was ultimately proud of, but he knows his team must play better overall moving forward.
“We’ve just got to eliminate the mistakes,” he said. “I think we left a couple of touchdowns on the field.”
Thomas thought the defensive effort was solid the entire game. The Tigers recorded 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and were led by Jones’ 10 tackles. Jenkins had eight tackles, while Thompson and Webb each had seven.
The Tigers return to The Jungle to play Jacksonville’s Hollis Christian Academy. The Eagles (2-2) are coming off a 43-6 loss to St. Petersburg’s Northside Christian.
Union is seeking to go 7-0 for the first time since the 2012 season. The Tigers’ 6-0 start this season matches what they did in 2015.
