BY LISA HOLTZENDORF
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
Rayvon Durant and Dayviontae Thompson rushed for two touchdowns each as the Union County High School football team relied upon a ground that churned out 389 yards in a 41-6 win over visiting Lafayette for the Region 3-1R championship on Nov. 25.
The Tigers (8-2) now hit the road, having to travel to Century to face Region 1 champion Northview (12-0) in a state semifinal game on Friday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time.
Durant, A.J. Cortese, Hance Jones and Markus Strong served as captains for Union, which was coming off a 26-17 win over defending state champion Madison County in the Region 3 semifinals. Lafayette, which advanced with a 31-13 win over Hilliard, was represented during the coin toss by captains Carter Higginbothom and Karlos Murphy II.
Murphy came up with a big defensive play for the Hornets (10-3) on the game’s opening series. Union received the kickoff to start the game and drove down the field, earning two first downs. On a fourth-down play, a Cortese pass was deflected by receiver Daylyn Diston before being intercepted by Murphy. Murphy returned the ball to the Lafayette 47-yard line before having it stripped from his possession by Dee Williams. The Hornets got lucky when Jacob Keast recovered the loose ball at the Lafayette 49.
That was pretty much the highlight for the Hornets in the first half.
The Union offense struck with 3:48 left in the first quarter when Cortese took the ball 80 yards on a keeper for a touchdown. Jonathan Edwards booted the extra point through for a 7-0 Union lead.
The Union quarterback carried the ball seven times in all, finishing with 89 yards.
Early in the second quarter, Durant took a handoff 47 yards for another score, making the score, after Edwards’ PAT, 14-0.
The Hornets received the kickoff to open the third quarter and tried to make something happen against a tough defense that recorded 15 tackles for loss on the night. Strong recorded one of his 3.5 sacks on a first-down play, while Connor Bresee, who finished with two sacks, took the quarterback down on a third-down play to force a punt.
A personal foul assessed against Lafayette on the punt return had the Tigers starting a drive at the Hornets’ 35-yard line. The Tigers cashed in, with Thompson busting through the defense for a 23-yard touchdown run with 7:45 remaining in the third quarter. Edwards added the PAT for a 21-0 lead.
Lafayette’s problems seemed to mount as the game progressed. The Hornets’ next possession saw Union’s Timmy Taylor cause and recover a fumble at the Lafayette 16. Once again, the Tigers handed the ball off to Thompson, who sidestepped defenders and was virtually untouched on his way to the end zone for another score. Edwards’ extra-point kick was good as Union built a 28-0 lead with 6:19 to play in the third quarter.
Thompson finished with 48 yards on just four carries.
The Tigers continued to romp on their next series. Facing third-and-2, Durant, who finished with 155 yards on 15 carries, took a handoff and went untouched straight up the middle for a 28-yard touchdown run. Edwards, who was 5 of 5 on PATs, added his final extra-point kick of the night to make it a 35-0 game.
As the defense continued to shut down the Hornets in the fourth quarter, Union began subbing out its starters. Jamez Jamison, who entered at running back on the Tigers’ first series of the final period, scored on a 16-yard run to make the score 41-0 with 3:45 remaining. The two-point conversion attempt was no good.
The Hornets finally put some points on the board when quarterback Tywan Williamson threw a touchdown pass on the final play.
Throwing the ball wasn’t a priority with a ground game that produced an average of 10 yards per carry, but Cortese did complete 4 of 6 attempts for 12 yards. Trenton Klein completed his only pass attempt for 8 yards.
Diston caught four passes for 12 yards, while Ashton Newsom had one for 8 yards.
Defensively, the Tigers were led in tackles by Strong and Thomas Williams, who had six each. Bresee, Taylor and Thompson made four tackles each.
Bresee, Strong, Taylor, Williams and Ezekiel Taylor each finished with multiple tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Besides the fumble recovered by Timmy Taylor, the Tigers forced another turnover, with Auntrell Ross intercepting a pass.
After the game, both teams took to midfield, facing each other as Pastor Thomas Dixon, chaplain for the Lafayette team, gave an inspirational and spiritual talk. He praised both teams for a well-played game and wished Union much success moving forward in the playoffs.
Union Head Coach Andrew Thomas reminded his team that the journey isn’t over.
“We have to go on the road and travel and still be able to win a football game,” he said. “You have to stay focused on the job ahead of us.”
Fans are asked to decorate their storefronts and marquee signs to show their Tiger pride this week. Bring on those purple and gold balloons and signs and get ready to send the football team to Northview pumped up and ready to bring home another victory.
The team will depart from the high school on Thursday, Dec. 1, at 1:30 p.m., traveling north on S.R. 121. Students and staff at Lake Butler Elementary and Lake Butler Middle schools will hopefully be allowed to go outside and cheer the team on as it leaves town. Fans are asked to gather at Sprinkle Field at 1:20 p.m.
Tickets to the game are available via gofan.co only. Enter “Union County High School” in the search bar.
Northview’s stadium is located at 4100 C.R. 4 in Century.
