BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
The road to Tallahassee, where the Class 1R state championship game will be played, will take the Union County High School football team way beyond the state’s capital as the Tigers have to travel to Northview High School in Century for a state semifinal game on Friday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time.
Union’s first road game in the playoffs — and first road game since Sept. 23 — will have the Tigers traveling 332 miles.
Northview (12-0) advanced to the state semifinals by defeating Chipley 42-6. It was the ninth time the Chiefs have scored more than 40 points this season.
Senior running back Jamarkus Jefferson continued his impressive season, rushing for 164 yards and five touchdowns on 25 carries in the Region 1 championship win. Jefferson now has a total of 2,093 yards and 41 touchdowns on 237 carries this season.
Northview averages 278 rushing yards per game.
Senior quarterback Kaden Odom’s stats against Chipley weren’t posted on MaxPreps along with the team’s other stats, but Odom entered that game having completed 73 of 100 attempts for 1,343 yards for an average of 112 yards per game. He had 14 touchdown passes prior to the Chipley game.
Junior Wyatt Scruggs leads the receivers with 17 catches for 316 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Terrell Bridges has 21 catches for 300 yards, while senior Maliki Haynes has 15 catches for 299 yards and three touchdowns.
Bridges, who also plays defensive back, leads the Chiefs in tackles with 98. Junior linebacker Joe Wright has 73 tackles, while Odom, a defensive back, and senior Simeon Sanders, a lineman, have 61 and 60, respectively.
The Chiefs are making their fourth trip to the state semifinals and their first trip since winning the 1A state championship in 2012, which is their only state title.
This is Northview’s fifth straight year in the playoffs and their 12th trip in the last 13 years. The Chiefs’ overall postseason record is 16-16.
Northview played only three teams in the regular season that had winning records, with all three qualifying for the playoffs. The Chiefs beat 1R Baker 49-10, 1R Blountstown 49-0 and 2S Bay 41-6.
The Chiefs are scoring an average of 44 points per game, while opponents are scoring an average of 14 points per game.
Northview won its two playoff games by an average score of 38-16, while Union won its two games by an average score of 34-11.
The Union-Northview winner will play either Hawthorne (10-0) or Blountstown (9-4) for the state championship on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. at Gene Cox Stadium in Tallahassee.
Union is making its first state semifinal appearance since 2011. The Tigers lost 27-6 to Jefferson County, which went on to win the 1A state title.
The Tigers are looking to make it to the state championship game for the first time since 2003.
