BY LISA HOLTZENDORF
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
Union County High School’s football team traveled to play its first game against a fellow Rural Class team, but the road trip was unkind as Fort White took control of the game early and rolled to 47-0 victory over the struggling Tigers on Sept. 19.
For the second week in a row, the Tigers (1-3) failed to score.
Union, which will host Paxon on Friday, Sept. 26, at 7:30 p.m., has a lot of work to do to try to turn its season around. As the coaches took turns talking to the players after the game, they reminded them that despite the team’s youth, they must find answers on how to put points on the board. The team, which has been outscored 75-0 in its last two games, heard that how it was playing wasn’t representative of Union County football, so players must put the devastating losses behind them and improve.
Jeffrey Brugh, Wyatt Elixson, C.J. Ivey and Alec McClellon were the captains for the coin toss, which was won by Fort White. The Indians (3-2) elected to receive.
The teams seemed to be evenly matched through the first six minutes of the game as both offenses were shut down by tough defensive plays. Fort White, however, opened it up with 6:39 remaining in the first quarter when quarterback Jayden Jackson completed an 18-yard touchdown pass to X’Zaevion Gibson. Maxwell Eyjolfsson added the extra point as the Indians took a 7-0 lead.
Brugh fielded the ensuing kickoff and returned it to the Union 42-yard line. Despite a good run for a first down by Drew Simmons, the Tigers were forced to punt.
Fort White took to the field at its own 35. Union’s defense was making an impressive stand, but the Indians found a way to capitalize. Jackson, facing third-and-10, rolled out to his right under heavy pressure from the Tigers’ Lane Jackson and A.J. Rivera and completed a 65-yard to Cameron Lumpkin for a touchdown with two minutes left in the first quarter. The score stood at 14-0 after the extra point.
The second quarter proved to be no different from the first in terms of the Indians dominating the Tigers. Jackson took the ball into the end zone from 5 yards out to give Fort White a 21-0 lead after Eyjolfsson’s PAT.
Union’s offense continued to struggle to find any type of rhythm. Dropped passes and pass deflections led to missed opportunities as drives ended in punts. The Tigers were unable to capitalize on their limited chances in Fort White territory, with penalties and tackles for losses keeping them out of the end zone.
As halftime rolled around, the Indians had a commanding 35-0 lead.
A running clock was initiated as the Tigers had no answer for Fort White’s explosive offense. The Indians scored two touchdowns early in the third quarter to go up 47-0.
Fort White finished with 432 yards (205 rushing, 227 passing) and 11 first downs, while Union had just 23 yards and four first downs.
The Tigers will attempt to snap their two-game losing streak against a Paxon team that is coming off a bye week. The Eagles (3-2) have double-digit wins over Christ’s Church Academy, Stanton and Wolfson, while their losses have come by scores of 54-14 to West Nassau and 49-7 to Williston.
