BY LISA HOLTZENDORF
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
A fumble and a safety helped visiting Yulee score 14 points and hand the Union County High School football team a season-opening 21-6 loss on Aug. 22.
Union Interim Head Coach Lamar Waters praised his team for playing hard and not giving up against the Class 3A Hornets. He gave kudos to his defense for creating turnovers and said a young offense will only improve.
“We had some good plays and just need to get better,” Waters said.
The coach told his players that the work must continue, and the focus has to shift to the next game, which will take place Friday, Aug. 29, at home against Class 2A Keystone Heights (0-1) at 7:30 p.m.
Jeffrey Brugh, C.J. Ivey, Rhett Prevatt and Keegan Shuler were the Tigers’ captains for the coin toss, which Union won. The Tigers elected to receive the opening kickoff, which Alec McClellon took to the Union 30-yard line.
Despite a decent gain of 5-yards on a quarterback keeper by Brugh, the Tigers were forced to punt after a fumble on third down hurt their efforts. Bryce Lawton punted, with Yulee beginning its first possession at its own 39.
Yulee running back Jayden Timmon, who terrorized the Union defense all night, earned a first down on his first carry. The Tigers later had the Hornets facing third-and-10, but quarterback Tre Vazquez broke free on a scramble and picked up the first down. Union got a huge break when a fumble was recovered by Erick Lasseter, putting a stop to the drive.
The Tigers’ next drive was their longest of the first quarter. Brugh connected with running back Drew Simmons on a first-down play, followed by two good runs by Ivey. A third-and-1 play saw Simmons take a pitch and break the Tigers into Yulee territory for a first down at the Hornets’ 48-yard line. Brugh had a big-yardage gain on a keeper on third-and-9. That was followed by another good run by Simmons, who went around left end for another first down.
Union’s promising drive, though, stalled in the opening minutes of the second quarter. The Tigers turned the ball over on downs at the Yulee 19-yard line.
Yulee’s offense didn’t waste any time going to work, with Timmon chipping away at the defense. The Hornets earned three first downs before Timmon broke free for a 41-yard touchdown run on a third-down play. Yulee’s PAT was good, making the score 7-0 with 5:05 left in the second quarter.
If the Tigers needed motivation, the Yulee touchdown breathed some fire into them. McClellon returned the Hornets’ kickoff to his own 39-yard line. Three plays later, Brugh connected with Simmons for a 74-yard touchdown that made it a 7-6 game with three minutes remaining in the first half. The extra point was no good.
Union got a break when the Hornets were flagged for holding on the following kickoff, backing Yulee up to its own 20. Despite earning a first down on a run by Corbin Fletcher, the Hornets would throw three incomplete passes that forced them to punt.
The closing seconds of the half proved to be exciting if you were a Yulee fan. The Tigers, lining up to punt, tried some trickery with a direct snap to Landon Cason. Cason, though, was stopped of gaining a first down. Yulee’s offense took over at the Union 46 and went to work with mere seconds on the clock. Vazquez connected with Fletcher on a 31-yard touchdown pass as time expired, putting the Hornets up 13-6. The PAT was no good.
Yulee had a big kickoff return to open the second half, starting a drive 2 yards shy of midfield. A penalty on a fourth-down play kept the Hornets’ drive alive, but the Union defense dug in its heels. Big stops by Edward Durant, Wyatt Elixson and A.J. Rivera gave the ball to the Union offense at its own 38-yard line. A second-down fumble, however, gave the ball right back to the Hornets at the Union 25.
The Hornets converted on a fourth-and-1 play, but the Tigers responded on defense, with Lasseter recovering his second fumble of the game.
Union’s offense couldn’t capitalize on the following series and lined up to punt. Unfortunately, the punter’s knee touched the ground in the end zone, resulting in a safety that put Yulee ahead 15-6.
Yulee cashed in on the Tigers’ free kick following the safety when Vazquez threw a touchdown pass to Fletcher on fourth-and-long. That capped the scoring at the 10:41 mark of the fourth quarter as the extra point was no good.
Union’s offense couldn’t get anything going but the defense did come up with some big plays. Durant recovered a fumble on one Yulee series and had a 12-yard sack on another series.
The Tigers finished the game with only 52 rushing yards on 22 attempts, while Brugh completed 4 of 11 passes for 94 yards.
Yulee gained 221 yards (151 rushing, 70 passing).
The Rural Class Tigers play up in class again when they host the Keystone Heights Indians, but a young Indians team is struggling to start the season, having lost 42-0 in the preseason to Ridgeview and then 36-0 to Interlachen in their season opener.
Last season’s matchup between Union and Keystone was a 35-0 win for the Tigers.
