Union football coach Jordan Wren said before the season that his defense would have to lead the way for the Yellowjackets this season.
That Union defense had another good night with two late goal-line stands as they Yellowjackets held on to take a 14-7 win over Clarkdale on Friday night.
Union improves to 7-2 on the season and will host Morton on Friday night with the Division 5-3A championship on the line.
Wren said his team overcame a lot of adversity to grab the hard-fought win over the Bulldogs, who entered the game with just one loss.
“They were really good,” Wren said. “We only had six or seven possessions and the game went quick. The first half was over in 36 minutes. I think the biggest thing for us is our kids overcame some adversity found a way to win one that was really tough. It’s just like I thought it would be coming into the season, our defense would have to lead the way. Our kids have figured out that we have to rise to the standard of the people we are playing. I was proud of how they fought. It was a good team win and puts us in position to win the district championship this week.”
Union got the ball to start the game and put together an eight-play drive before punting. The Bulldogs returned the favor and put together a 16-play drive that ended with a missed field goal attempt by the Bulldogs early in the second quarter.
The Yellowjackets then went 80 yards and scored on a 21-yard run by Xavier Boler with 6:29 left in the second quarter. Samuel Alanine hit the PAT and Union led 7-0, a score that lasted until halftime.
“They have a team full of seniors and a Division I athlete at quarterback,” Wren said. “All of those D1 guys have the same things in common, they are athletic and composed and he made plays all night long. We had them in third down all night and he made plays all night. I thought all week that he was the best player in the division, and he didn’t prove me wrong.”
Clarkdale got the ball to start the second half and put together a 10-play drive and scored on a 9-yard run with 7:27 left in the third quarter. The PAT was good Clarkdale tied the game at 7-7.
The Yellowjackets gave the ball right back on an interception by U’Darian Hickmon. The Bulldogs got down to the Union 27 but missed a 44-yard field goal with 3:28 left in the third quarter.
Union then went 80 yards in 13 plays and found the end zone as Hickmon hit Keon Hutchins on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 10:15 left in the game. Alawine hit the PAT and Union led 14-7.
Clarkdale wasn’t through as they put together a 15-play drive and got as deep as the Union 6-yard line. But a facemask penalty pushed Clarkdale back and the Yellowjacket defense held the Bulldogs on fourth down.
Union gave the ball right back two plays later on a fumble by Carlos Hickmon. After a quick 15-yard gainer to the Union 21, the drive stalled as the Yellowjackets turned the Bulldogs over on downs to preserve the win.
“They had two late drives they could have scored on and we had to big defensive stands,” Wren said. “We knew that our defensive would have to hold them. Our defense made two huge stands. We didn’t have a lot of yards because they just held the ball. They perfected the ball control offense.”
Union had 133 yards rushing and 66 passing for 199 yards of total offense while Clarkdale had 165 yards rushing and 36 passing for 201 total yards.
Xavier Boler had 80 yards rushing on 17 carries while Harris had 43 yards rushing on four carries.
Hickmon was 4-of-9 passing for 66 yards with one TD and one interception. Hutchins had two catches for 43 yards while Harris had 23 yards on two carries.
On defense, Carlos Hickman had 11 tackles with three for loss. Harris and Cameron Jackson each had six tackles apiece while William Hughlett had five tackles. Davarian McDonald and Tristan Wallace each had four tackles apiece while Omari Holliday and Collin Rigdon each had three tackles apiece.
