BY ANTONIO HENDERSON
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
Union County High School’s football team had four interceptions on the night and held a fourth-quarter lead, but host Madison County scored the go-ahead touchdown with 6:25 to play in defeating the Tigers 17-14 in the Nov. 24 Region 3-1R championship game.
The Tigers (8-4) were attempting to advance to the state semifinals for the second straight year. Instead, Madison (9-1) moves on to take on Bozeman (12-0).
Union had the ball to start the game. Thomas Williams tripped over his own feet on the first play, making it second-and-13. Quarterback Trenton Klein threw a 4-yard pass to Bobo Williams. Klein dropped back again on third down and saw a wide-open Gavin Jenkins for what would’ve been a 60-yard touchdown, but Jenkins took his eyes off the ball for a second, resulting in an incompletion and a punt.
The Cowboys gained 7 yards on their first play before John Christian caught a quick pass for a 17-yard gain. A holding penalty brought the play back. Za’vion Bryant threw a pass that was tipped into the air by Klein. Klein almost picked it off, but teammate Blake McCoy came out of nowhere to make the interception, taking it back to the Madison 35-yard line.
Union went to Williams and its ground game, but the Cowboys were on top of the play for no gain. A penalty on the play put the Tigers into a first-and-20 play. Klein found Woodall on a 4-yard pass play. On second-and-16, Klein took off, running for another gain of 4 yards. Klein found Woodall on an out route on third down, with Woodall noticing there was nobody in his area, so he turned and ran 38 yards for a touchdown. Jonathan Edwards’ extra point was good, making the score 7-0.
Woodall finished with three catches for 41 yards.
Madison was penalized for holding on its first play following the Tigers’ score. Jacob Jenkins then came up with a tackle for no gain. On second-and-12, the Cowboys’ Rayshard Miller gained 9 yards before being brought down by Johnte Nichols. John Christian then picked up 13 yards before going out of bounds. Bryant completed a 12-yard pass for another fist down as the Madison offense was rolling.
The Tigers’ Brycen Boney made a tackle for a 1-yard gain, while Miller was tackled for no gain by Klein, setting up third-and-9. Bryant wanted to go deep, with his pass initially being ruled incomplete. However, the back judge ruled that after the pass bounced off the intended receiver’s foot, the Tigers’ Dayquan Diston picked it off with one hand.
Diston’s play couldn’t get the Union offense going, as the Tigers punted after three plays.
Madison’s Bryant used his feet for an 11-yard gain. He carried the ball again, but was held to a gain of 2 yards on a stop by Nichols and Jacob Jenkins. The Tigers’ Jimmy Cox and Erich Seager then fought off blocks, meeting each other in the backfield as they sacked Bryant, making it third-and-16. Boney broke up the pass on third down to force the Cowboys to punt.
Union’s offense had to start at its own 3-yard line. Klein had a 5-yard run as the first quarter ended. Klein carried the ball again for no gain, followed by Drew Simmons being held to no gain on another run play. The Tigers punted, which had Madison starting a drive at the Tigers’ 42-yard line.
A penalty and a tackle for a 1-yard loss by Anthony Holmes and Jacob Jenkins helped force the Cowboys into a third-and-12 play. Bryant found Christian open for a 17-yard gain before Christian was finally brought down by Bryan Tyson. Tyson came up big on the next play, making a tackle for a loss. Klein then made a tackle for a 2-yard loss, but a 17-yard gain by Christian gave Madison first-and-goal.
Klein made a tackle to hold the Cowboys to a gain of 1. On second down, Miller was tackled by a host of Tigers for no gain. The Cowboys tried to run a sweep on third down, but Nichols made a great read and tackled the ball carrier for a loss of 4 yards. Keoni Nelson kicked an 18-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 5:26 on the clock in the second quarter.
With the ball back, the Tigers gained 2 yards on a quick screen pass from Klein to Gavin Jenkins. Klein was then tackled for a 1-yard loss on second down. A roughing-the-passer penalty on third down gave Union a first down. After a catch by Woodall, the Tigers’ Simmons and Williams were held to no gain and 2 yards, respectively, resulting in a punt to the Madison 25.
Williams forced a fumble, but the Cowboys recovered. Miller was then held to a 1-yard gain by Klein, but he came back on the next play and gained 11 yards. Bryant scrambled for a gain of 4 yards before being brought down by Klein with 57 seconds until halftime. After a time out, Bryant hit a wide-open receiver, but Union ballhawk McCoy took the ball right out of his hands for an interception that put the Tigers at the Madison 30-yard line.
The Tigers tried a hook-and-ladder play, but the Madison defense wasn’t fooled, making a tackle for a loss of 4 yards. Klein hurried the offense to the line and spiked the ball to stop the clock. After an incomplete pass, the Tigers went for it on fourth down, but Klein was sacked.
Madison received the ball to start the second half, but couldn’t get anything going, with Klein, Nichols, Seager and Tyson coming up with tackles that forced the Cowboys to punt.
Union’s offense couldn’t get anything going either, going three-and-out.
The Cowboys had the ball at their own 41 following the punt. A false start backed them up 5 yards. Klein then made a tackle for a loss of 2 yards. On second-and-17, Varian Terry broke free for a 17-yard gain. Madison continued to march down the field, getting first-and-goal. Bryant handed off to Miller for a touchdown. The extra point was good as the Cowboys led 10-7 with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Union, which was held to 32 yards rushing, tried to get its run game going on the following series, but Williams was held to no gain. The Tigers then gained 5 yards when Madison was penalized for being offsides. Klein, who was 13 of 20 for 129 yards, then saw Diston for a deep pass for a gain of 45 yards. After a 1-yard run and an incomplete pass, Klein found McCoy for a 21-yard gain and first-and-goal. Williams scored on a 2-yard run two plays later with 1:32 to play in the third quarter. Edwards kicked the extra point as the Tigers took a 14-10 lead.
Bryant got Madison’s next drive started with a 17-yard run. He called his own number again, but he was tackled by Jacob Jenkins for just a 1-yard gain. Miller broke free for an 11-yard run, but a flag for holding made it second-and-14. Williams made a tackle for no gain to start the fourth quarter. Bryant then had a pass picked off by Diston.
A 12-yard reception by Gavin Jenkins resulted in a first down. Williams and Klein each had a 2-yard run to set up a third-and-6 play. Williams was held to 1 yard, which forced the Tigers to line up to punt, but they were unable to get the kick off on a fumbled snap, giving the Cowboys good field position just past midfield.
Terry got the Madison offense rolling with a 22-yard run. Terry and Christian then had runs of 4 and 3 yards, respectively, before Terry carried the ball in for a touchdown. The extra point made it 17-14 in favor of the Cowboys.
The Tigers benefitted from an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty that was marked off on the kickoff. Union began its drive with Klein rolling out of the pocket under pressure and dumping the ball off to Williams for 5 yards. Klein then passed to McCoy for a 4-yard gain, setting up third-and-1. Klein was held to no gain on a keeper by Madison’s Xavier Kegler. The Tigers went for it on fourth down, with Williams breaking loose for a 19-yard gain.
A screen pass from Klein to Gavin Jenkins went for no gain. After an incomplete pass on second down, the Tigers were again held to no gain on a screen pass. On fourth-and-10, with 2:33 on the clock, Klein’s pass was tipped and picked off by Madison’s Octavious Hodge.
The Cowboys ran a few positive plays, with back-to-back runs for first downs. Union was forced to burn its time outs before Madison was able to kneel down as time expired.
Klein led the defense with 10 tackles. Seager and Tyson had seven and six, respectively, with Seager recording four for loss.
