BY ANTONIO HENDERSON
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
Union County High School’s varsity football team trailed 14-6 at the half, but the Tigers’ younger players matched host Baker County’s point total in the second half in an Aug. 18 preseason classic that ended with a 28-20 final in favor of the Wildcats.
The Tigers, who open the regular season by hosting Interlachen on Friday, Aug. 25, at 7:30 p.m., started the game with their offense on the field. Baker’s defense came up with a three-and-out, with a big tackle for lose by defensive tackle Phillip Jackson.
Union’s defense stood up and held the Wildcats to a three-and-out as well. On the next drive, the Tigers had what would’ve been a huge pass play with a wide-open receiver, but they couldn’t capitalize as the pass was incomplete. The Tigers got to a fourth-and-3 play and went for it, but the wide receiver fell short of the first down.
Another three-and-out forced by the defense put the Tigers’ offense back out on the field, but a fumble was picked up by the Wildcats and taken back for a touchdown. With the PAT, the Tigers went down 7-0 with 9:55 to play in the second quarter, but they didn’t give up.
A big pass play of 53 yards from junior quarterback Trenton Klein to junior wide receiver Ibn Williams got the Tigers rolling. They came back with a strong run game, controlling the clock with seniors Thomas Williams and Dayquan Diston and getting the ball to the 7-yard line with 2:29 to go before halftime. Williams punched the ball in for a touchdown, giving the Tigers momentum and only leaving them trailing by one point. They decided to go for to the two, but the conversion attempt failed with two minutes until halftime.
The Tigers’ defense started off the next drive by bringing the pressure, with Klein and senior Johnte Nichols taking down Wildcats quarterback Davion Dean. On the very next play, Dean found his wide receiver downfield for a touchdown as the Tigers had a miscommunication in the secondary. That brought the score (after the PAT) to 14-6 with the with 44 seconds on the clock before halftime.
Union came out in the second half with the younger guys, getting some big plays from freshman quarterback Bryan Tyson and freshman running back Drew Simmons adding 14 points, but the Tigers ended up with a 28-20 loss.
Head Coach Andrew Thomas said he felt like his team didn’t play bad and that he was really proud of the way the defense played.
Since it was a kickoff classic, the score didn’t matter, but Thomas said he’ll take the score if it makes the Tigers better going into their next game.
“We need a little chip on our shoulders,” Thomas said.
Upcoming opponent Interlachen is a larger school that isn’t part of the Florida High School Athletic Association in football. Rather, the Rams play in the Sunshine State Athletic Association and were the state champions of the Atlantic League last season. Interlachen’s 16-0 win over Paxon in the title game capped a 10-0 season.
The Tigers last played the Rams in 2020, winning 49-14.
Union’s JV team hosts Trinity Catholic on Thursday, Aug. 24, at 6 p.m.
