BY JADEE O’STEEN
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
Union County traveled to Jacksonville to face Class 1 Metro University Christian and never seemed to get things going, with the Tigers suffering a 33-14 season-opening loss on Aug. 26.
On a wet and stormy night, the Class 1 Rural Tigers, who host Columbia on Friday, Sept. 2, at 7:30 p.m., saw University score on its first four possessions. University marched 60 yards into the Tiger territory and kicked a 30-yard field goal for the first score of the game.
The Tiger defense gave up 213 yards on the ground and 209 yards in the air for the game.
A consistent rain fell for most of the game, which also included a 30-minute lightning delay that seemed to slow down the momentum the Tigers had gained late in the third quarter.
Union quarterback A.J. Cortese, who threw for 95 yards, completing 2 of 10 passes, said, “I think that the weather did play a slight role into our performance as a team tonight, but you can’t really blame a loss such as this on the weather.”
The Tigers seemed to find a groove in the second half. They scored two touchdowns — one of which was a 73-yard pass to Gavin Jenkins — as the defense started to contain the University offense. The defense had a few bright spots, one of which was the return of lineman Markus Strong. Strong, missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL. He showed his speed and strength in limited play. He was also responsible for the only turnover for the Tigers with a forced fumble during the third quarter.
Bubba Thompson is also anticipated to return for the defense next week. Thompson had 10 sacks to go along with 58 total tackles during the 2021 season.
Running back Rayvon Durant picked up where he left off last year (1,457 yards on 127 carries), rushing for 130 yards with one touchdown against the Christians. Durant seemed to get more comfortable as the game went on, averaging almost 9 yards a carry in the second half.
This week, the Tigers will face Columbia for the first time since the 1920s. It’s a game that many will be looking forward to.
“This game isn’t going to be a cake walk,” Cortese said.
Columbia, a Class 3 Suburban team, went 6-5 in 2021 and was the number-one in District 3 of the former 6A classification. Over the last 15 years, Columbia has had only two losing seasons and has finished with at least eight wins nine times.
“We are playing a really good school who is known for winning,” Cortese said.
Columbia went into week one with high hopes of beating Class 4S Buchholz, but was defeated 31-14 at Citizens field in Gainesville on Aug. 25.
Cortese said Union has the capability of beating Columbia, but it all comes down to the team’s execution and will.
The Tigers will definitely need their offensive and defensive leaders to show up as the face the formidable Columbia Tigers, whose roster contains multiple Division 1 athletes.
