BY CECE THOMAS
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
It has been said that a good defense will win championships.
On Aug. 23, it was the defense as well as a lot of heart from the Tigers, who won the game for Union County High School against the host Yulee Hornets.
A lot of factors were against Union. First, Yulee, which plays in Class 3A, is a much larger school and had twice the number of players as the Tigers, who play in the Rural classification. Second, the field was saturated with rain that continued to fall on and off throughout the game. Finally, the offense moved the ball well, but had five turnovers.
However, the defense successfully stopped the Hornets four times when they were in scoring position. With only seven seconds left on the clock, Ibn Williams knocked down a pass on a two-point conversion attempt to give the Tigers a 14-13 season-opening win.
“Our kids just battled all night, handled the adversity thrown at them, moved on after mistakes and kept fighting,” Head Coach Andrew Thomas said. “Eventually we kind of took over and were able to finish and hold on in the end.”
Head Coach Andrew Thomas. The Union County Tigers next game for August 30th will be played against Keystone at Keystone.
Union, which will travel to play Class 2A Keystone Heights (1-0) on Friday, Aug. 30, at 7:30 p.m., started its first drive on its own 28-yard line. Trenton Klein’s first play — a quarterback keeper — gained 2 yards. On third down, a pass to Drew Simmons was incomplete due to Yulee’s defense getting to the quarterback. Gavin Jenkins punted to the Hornets, who took over at their own 32-yard line.
Yulee had the first flag of the game, being penalized 5 yards for being offsides. Quarterback Preston Matricardi then bobbled the snap, but managed to still make a good run for a first down. Yulee, at its own 42, scored a touchdown on Matricardi’s long pass to T.J. Williamson. Daniel Armenta kicked the extra point, giving Yulee a 7-0 lead with 8:43 left in the first quarter.
The Hornets kicked off to the Tigers, with and Simmons returning it to the Tigers’ 30-yard line. C.J. Ivey had a good carry for 9 yards, but on the next play, Simmons slipped in the backfield for a 5-yard loss. On third down,
Simmons had a great carry to get the Tigers a first down and more out to the 47-yard line. The Tigers then fumbled, with Yulee recovering.
With many back-and-forth possessions between the teams, the first quarter ended with Yulee leading 7-0.
The Tigers started the second quarter with a third-and-7 play at their own 41. The entire crowd and both football teams thought that Yulee jumped offsides, but the refs called it against the Tigers. Thomas argued the call, but Union still ended up facing third-and-long. Simmons had an outstanding carry, but the refs marked him 1 yard short of the first down. The Tigers went for it and got the first down, but then fumbled the ball. Yulee took over at the 50-yard line.
It was the third fumble of the game.
The end of the second quarter rolled up, with the Tigers digging into their bag of tricks. Klein handed the ball to Gavin Jenkins on a jet sweep. Jenkins then threw a long, beautiful pass to Williams, who stumbled down inside the Yulee 10-yard line for first-and-goal with 30 seconds left in the half. Klein took it in for a touchdown on a quarterback keeper. The Tigers went for two, but came up short with 21 seconds left and Yulee still leading, 7-6.
In the third quarter, Yulee had a player gain 6 yards before getting injured. Union’s Garrett Jackson made a stop on second down, resulting in Yulee facing third-and-2. Yulee, after getting the first down, had a bad snap on a second-down play, with Matricardi retrieving the loose ball. The quarterback then kept the ball for a huge run all the way to the Tigers’ 16-yard line. A block-in-the-back call against Yulee resulted in first-and-20. The Hornets were later called for holding on second down, but Union declined the penalty. The Tigers got a big defensive stand and took over on their own 26-yard line.
The Union offense continued to have great runs, but the drive stalled deep in Yulee territory because of some questionable penalties.
Yulee took over at midfield toward the end of the third quarter. Klein had two big sacks to help the Tigers get the ball back at their own 11-yard line. Simmons carried the ball for 9 yards, with Ivey then picking up a first down at the 32 as the third quarter ended with the Tigers still trailing 7-6.
Simmons had two huge carries at the start of the fourth quarter, bringing the Tigers into Yulee territory at the 39-yard line. Ivey had a good run, but then fumbled the ball — the Tigers’ fifth turnover. Yulee took over at its own 35.
The Tigers’ defense came up with an interception on a fourth-down play, with the offense taking over at the Union 10-yard line.
This would prove to be the drive on which the Tigers finished the deal.
Simmons had a huge carry for a first down at the Tigers’ 42. The Tigers later had fourth-and-long when Klein had a huge run, moving Union from its own 45 to the Yulee 24-yard line. Simmons was tackled for a loss on the next play, but he carried again on second-and-long, picking up a first down at the 13-yard line. Ivey then had a carry to the 9. Simmons, who finished with 176 yards on 18 carries, took it in for the touchdown with 1:01 left in the game. The Tigers went for two, with Klein getting it on a quarterback keeper, putting the Tigers up 14-7.
Yulee’s offense, with all three of the team’s timeouts left, took over at its own 45-yard line with 58 seconds left. Matricardi threw a huge pass for a first down at the Tigers’ 33 with 52 seconds left. After two incompletions, Yulee’s Shamar Gibbs had a big run for a first down at the 11-yard line. Matricardi scored on a keeper with 16 seconds left, making it 14-13. The two-point conversion attempt began with a bad snap before the Tigers’ Williams came up with the pass deflection to seal the win.
A lot of Tiger fans commented that this was one of the best high school games they had witnessed because of all the adversity Union had to overcome in finding a way to win against a bigger school and a good team like Yulee.
Besides Simmons, Klein (eight carries, 69 yards) and Ivey (10 carries, 61 yards) were a big part of a team rushing effort that netted 318 yards.
The Tigers finished with 360 yards of offense to Yulee’s 267.
Klein led the defense in tackles with 14. Williams, Jesse Chaikin and Ashton Newsom each had seven, while Jackson had six.
In other news surrounding the Tigers, the Quarterback Club wants you to know this season is special in the sense that it marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 state-championship team and the 50th anniversary of the 1974 state-finalist team.
The Quarterback Club will honor the 1974 team on Sept. 6 during the Santa Fe game. They would like anyone involved with that team (players, cheerleaders, band members, etc.) who has any photos to share them.
Also, the Quarterback Club plans on inducting the newest members to the Union County Hall of Fame on Sept. 27.
