BY ANTONIO HENDERSON
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
Trenton Klein threw two touchdown passes, while the defense forced three turnovers and came up with a couple of fourth-down stops in the second half as the Union County High School football team defeated host Fort White 17-10 in a Nov. 17 Region 3-1R semifinal game.
Klein’s 45-yard touchdown pass to Ibn Williams in the third quarter proved to be the difference. The Tigers (8-3), who are the third seed in the region, now travel to play top seed Madison County (8-1) for the Region 3 championship on Friday, Nov. 24, at 7:30 p.m.
Second seed Fort White (9-2) got off to a fast start, with Dakota Fisher gaining 24 yards on his first carry. Quarterback Jayden Jackson ran for 4 yards before being tackled by the Tigers’ Jacob Jenkins. Fort White then called on Fisher again, which resulted in a 6-yard run. It was later second-and-15 when Jackson called his own number, but he was held to just 3 yards after being brought down by Erich Seager and Bryan Tyson. Union then brought the pressure on third down, with Jimmy Cox making a tackle for a loss of 2 yards. Holstein Frazier lined up for a field-goal attempt on fourth down, which was no good.
The Tigers started off with their bread and butter on offense — their run game. Klein called his own number for a 9-yard gain, followed by Bobo Woodall carrying for 2 yards and a first down. Thomas Williams had carries of 15 yards and 1 yard, but Union couldn’t get anything going on its next few plays and punted.
Fort White’s Fisher was still hot running the ball, picking up 8 yards. He was then held to a 2-yard gain by Jenkins, but the Indians were rewarded with 15 more yards on a personal-foul facemask. A penalty on the Indians had them facing first-and-20, but they picked up 10 yards on a Garrett Brady reception. Jenkins came up with a 10-yard sack on the next play, making it third-and-long. Fort White’s Jackson then fumbled the snap, recovering for an 11-yard loss. The Indians punted.
Union’s offense faced third-and-15 on its next series, but a 21-yard run by Woodall, who finished with 27 yards on just three carries, gave the Tigers a first down. Klein then dropped back, saw Gavin Jenkins one-on-one against a smaller defender and threw a jump ball that Jenkins came down with for a 46-yard gain. Facemask and roughing-the-passer penalties added yardage and had the Tigers set up with first-and-goal. Back-to-back runs by Williams and Klein resulted in a total of 5 yards. A holding penalty then backed Union up, while a sack by the Indians’ Maliki Clark forced the Tigers to send Jonathan Edwards onto the field for a 35-yard field-goal attempt, which was good with 10:23 on the clock in the second quarter.
The Indians gave the ball to Najeeb Smith for back-to-back runs for a total gain of 14 yards. Jackson then called his own number for an 18-yard gain. After Smith was tackled for no gain, Fisher came up with three runs for a total gain of 11 yards. The Tigers’ Tyson made a tackle for a loss of 2 yards, but Fort White then dialed up a pass play on which Brady had a catch across the middle for a 25-yard touchdown. The extra point was good, putting the Indians up 7-3 with 6:58 to play in the second quarter.
Fort White tried to get its passing game going the next time it had the ball, but Jenkins came up with an interception that had Union starting an offensive drive at the Indians’ 40-yard line with 4:05 until halftime.
Jenikins, who caught two passes for 65 yards, took a screen pass from Klein and gained 19 yards. Klein, who rushed for 53 yards on 12 carries, picked up 10 more yards on a run. Williams was then stopped for no gain, followed by an incomplete pass as Klein tried to hook up with Blake McCoy on an out route. On third-and-10, a double pass play was called, with Jenkins finding a wide-open Tyson for a 9-yard touchdown with 2:42 remaining until the half. Edwards added the PAT for a 10-7 Tigers lead.
The Indians’ next offensive series began with Klein making a tackle for no gain, but Jackson would then gain 6 yards on a run before completing a pass on a curl route to Tafari Moore for a 28-yard gain. Jenkins, who had been coming up with plays all night for the Union defense, made a tackle for no gain. A 4-yard run and a 3-yard loss on a pass play had Fort White facing fourth-and-9. The Indians went for it, with the Tigers’ Johnte Nichols breaking up a pass.
Klein completed a 16-yard pass to McCoy. He then tried to go deep to Jenkins, who came down with an injury. It took him a while to catch his break, but he ended up walking off the field on his own to the applause from both teams and their fans.
Tyson, on an out route, caught a 7-yard pass and was able to get out of bounds to stop the clock with two seconds before halftime. Edwards attempted a field goal that had the distance, but missed by a few inches.
The Tigers came out in the second half and were able to pick up a first down on a Klein run, but a missed communication on a handoff led to a fumble that was recovered by the Indians.
Fort White’s Fisher had runs of 6 and 2 yards. Jackson dropped back to pass before pulling the ball down on running. He was blown up on a huge hit by Nichols, which sent him spinning in the air on what was a 4-yard gain.
A 10-yard run by Fisher would set up a first-and-goal opportunity. After an illegal-procedure penalty, Jenkins made a tackle for a loss of 2 yards. Smith gained 8 yards on a screen pass to set up third down at the 1-yard line. Union’s Anthony Holmes made a tackle to keep
the Indians out of the end zone. Fort White, which was inches from the goal line, was called for a false start on fourth down. The Indians sent the kicking team onto the field. A successful field goal tied the score at 10-10 with 6:13 to play in the third quarter.
The Tigers’ offense responded with Williams picking up 15 yards, followed by Drew Simmons (four carries for 24 yards) adding another 15-yard gain. A couple of runs by Klein after an incomplete pass set up fourth-and-1. Williams, who had 59 yards on 13 carries, fought for 3 yards, breaking multiple tackles to get the first down. Consecutive holding penalties eventually forced the Tigers to punt.
Seager fought through the Fort White offensive line to make a tackle for a loss of 4 yards. Dayquan Diston then picked off a Jackson pass.
Union’s offense then struck quickly, with Klein dropping back and throwing a 45-yard touchdown bomb to Ibn Williams, who just checked into the game. Edwards’ extra point was good, making the score 17-10 with 58 seconds left in the third quarter.
The next offensive series for each team ended in a punt. Then, with 6:57 to play, Fort White’s Jackson completed a 40-yard pass to Smith. It was back to the ground game, with Fisher gaining 18 yards, but a holding penalty backed the Indians up for first-and-20. Jackson went back to Smith for a 5-yard catch. Two plays later, on third-and-15, Jackson threw a deep pass intended for Smith, but it was picked off in the end zone by McCoy, who took it out to the Tigers’ 16-yard line with 5:29 remaining.
After a Union punt, Fort White was moving again. Jackson threw a screen pass to Smith for a 10-yard gain. Fisher then took a handoff for a 29-yard gain. After an 8-yard gain by Smith, the Tigers’ Jenkins made a tackle that held the Indians to a 1-yard gain. On third-and-1, Jackson threw an incomplete pass. He then kept the ball on fourth down, but Union’s Ashton Newsom made a great open-field tackle to hold Fort White 1 yard shy of the first down with 1:30 to play.
The Tigers ran the ball on three straight plays, but had no luck getting a first down. Their punt attempt on fourth down was blocked.
With 18 seconds left, the Tigers brought pressure, with Thomas Williams forcing an incomplete pass on first down. Williams brought pressure again on second down, forcing Jackson to throw another incompletion. Jackson left the game after taking a big hit from Williams. The Indians’ backup quarterback spiked the ball on third down. Jackson re-entered the game for a fourth-down play with 2.7 seconds on the clock. The quarterback’s pass was dropped.
Klein led the Union defense with nine tackles, while Jenkins and Brycen Boney each had eight. Seager and Tyson each had seven tackles, while Thomas Williams made six.
