BY ANTONIO HENDERSON
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
A ferocious defense and a 100-plus-yard, two-touchdown night from running back Thomas Williams resulted in a 43-0 season-opening win for the Union County High School football team over visiting Interlachen on Aug. 25.
The Tigers, who travel to play Columbia on Friday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m., scored 30 points in the first half.
Gavin “G-Man” Jenkins started the game off with a hug kick return, taking it 50 yards. The Tigers’ first two plays were runs that gained 5 yards each carry, giving them a first down. The next play, running back Thomas Williams broke for a 40-yard touchdown. Dayquan Diston came right back with the two-point conversion, putting the Tigers up 8-0.
The Union defense started off by forcing a three-and-out and making the Rams punt.
Quarterback Trenton Klein snuck for a 15-yard gain to get the Tigers’ offense rolling again. The Tigers went back to Williams on the next play for a 10-yard run. Klein overthrew a wide-open Jenkins for what would’ve been a touchdown, but the team came back with its run game, which resulted in Williams breaking free for another touchdown. However, the referee threw a flag for holding.
Klein broke free for a 16-yard gain, setting up third-and-4. The Tigers ended up fumbling, but recovered. They went back to Williams, who gained a first down, but the run was called back for a chop block, making it fourth-and-25. Klein threw a jump ball to Jenkins in the end zone, with Interlachen’s corner getting called for pass interference. That set up fourth-and-3.
Williams got another carry, gaining 3 yards to give the Tigers a first down. On the very next play, Bobo Woodall took a handoff in for a touchdown. The Tigers went for two, but got stopped in the backfield, leaving the score 14-0.
The defense made a great stop with another three-and-out.
Union went back to the ground game, giving it to Williams, who broke a run for a 45-yard touchdown. Toren Tyson converted the two-point conversion, making the score 22-0.
Williams, who rushed for 124 yards on seven carries, gave props to the linemen as well as the coaches for their play calling.
The Rams tried to go deep on first down, but the play was broken up by Jenkins. On second down, the Rams tried to get the run game going, but the Tigers’ stingy defense was all over it. Interlachen went back to the air on third down, but the pass was tipped by Deonte Jones and picked off by Blake McCoy.
Klein broke a 7-yard run for the Union offense, but the play was called back on a holding penalty. Klein then went deep to Jenkins for a 60-yard touchdown bomb, adding to the Tigers’ already large lead. Running back Ashton Newsome added the two points on the conversion attempt, making the score 30-0.
Klein went 2 for 4, with both completions going to Jenkins for a total of 76 yards.
Union’s defense continued its strong play, with Anthony Holmes making a tackle for a loss. After an incomplete pass on second down, the Interlachen quarterback dropped back, looking to connect on a deep ball to get the Rams’ offense rolling. The quarterback took a big hit on a safety blitz, which resulted in him leaving the field with an injury and a roughing-the-passer penalty.
The Rams, with the rain starting to fall, had a first down, but Klein came up with back-to-back tackles for losses. On third-and-12, the Tigers brought the pressure with a corner blitz, which resulted in a big hit delivered by Jenkins. Interlachen went back to punt, but it was blocked, with the Tigers recovering the ball on the Rams’ 4-yard line.
Union’s offense came out with a handoff to wide receiver Brycen Boney, who scored a touchdown to make it 36-0 in the third quarter.
On their next drive, the Rams finally got a first down without any help from the officials by getting the Tigers to jump offsides on fourth-and-4. Interlachen then tried a running back sweep, but safety Jones came up to make a tackle for a loss. A fumbled snap on the next play was recovered by the Tigers.
Quarterback Nelson Tambling entered the game in place of Klein. He dropped back and, off his back foot, threw a dime to wideout Jesse Chaikin for a 31-yard touchdown. Williams kicked the extra point to make it 43-0.
The Rams’ offense started taking kneel-downs early in the fourth quarter to keep the clock running. However, they did attempt a fake kneel-down and threw a deep pass. McCoy, who plays safety, wasn’t fooled, intercepting a tipped pass and taking it back for a 73-yard touchdown. A pass-interference penalty, though, brought the play back, leaving the final score at 43-0.
Erich Seager led the Union defense with five tackles, while Klein and Johnte Nichols each had four.
Columbia, the Tigers’ next opponent, is a Class 3S team that advanced to the Final Four last season. Columbia opened its season with a 41-13 loss to Class 4S Buchholz.
Union won the meeting between the two teams last year in Lake Butler by a score of 31-27.
