BY JADEE O’STEEN
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
It was a big win for the Union County Tigers, with the team playing well on both sides of the ball in a 55-7 win over host P.K. Younge on Sept. 16.
It was quite a muggy night in Gainesville, but the Tigers, who travel to play Newberry on Friday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m., persisted through the conditions to improve to 2-1.
Senior quarterback A.J. Cortese threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 10 of 17 completions. He added 42 rushing yards and a touchdown on six carries.
The Tigers started off somewhat slow, but the dynamics changed when sophomore Gavin Jenkins had a 62-yard reception from Cortese in the first quarter. Jenkins mentioned that he and Cortese communicated well in the huddle. The reception got the Tigers into the red zone and led to their first score.
Jenkins had a total of 72 receiving yards on two receptions. Daylyn Diston caught five passes for 88 yards and one touchdown, while Dayquan Diston had one reception, which was good for a 20-yard touchdown.
Senior Rayvon Durant was in the spotlight once again. He had 115 total yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries.
Durant, Cortese and the other backs had plenty of room to run, thanks to an impressive performance by an offensive line led by seniors Mikah Wilson and Carson Rogers.
The Tigers had their best defensive game against Class 1S P.K. Yonge (0-2). Senior lineman Markus Strong had another impressive game, with seven tackles and three sacks.
“This was one of our best games so far, but we still have some areas that we can clean up,” Strong said. He also stated, “This is only the beginning, and the defense will only get stronger as the season progresses.”
The Tigers had a total of 50 tackles. Senior Dayviontae “Bubba” Thompson and fellow linebacker Dalton Lane, who’s also a senior, had eight and six tackles, respectively. Thompson also had two sacks and caused a fumble.
Union created three turnovers, one of which was an interception that Thomas Williams returned for a touchdown. Brycen Boney also had an interception, while Jamez Jamison recovered a fumble.
Jonathan Edwards was 7 of 8 on extra-point attempts.
The Class 1 Rural Tigers have played up in class in every game this season and will continue to do so when they take on Class 2S Newberry. Union defeated the Panthers 45-13 last year, but Newberry seems to have progressed this season, bringing a 3-0 record into the game after going 5-6 in 2021.
Newberry, which is coming off a bye, defeated Santa Fe 34-27 to open the season and followed that with a 34-17 win over Fort White.
The Panthers’ most recent win came against Trenton by a score of 65-6.
“I am pretty confident in my team,” Strong said, explaining that as long as the Tigers handle their assignments, he believes they’ll come out on top.
Jenkins added, “We are going to show them what we are about.”
