Jordan Wren was told when he took the job at Union that the Yellowjackets couldn’t win the close game.
On Thursday night, the Yellowjackets proved to Wren that they could.
Union built a 13-0 halftime lead and held on to take a 13-6 win over Leake Academy.
Union improves to 2-1 on the season and will travel to Newton County this week. Leake falls to 1-3 on the season.
Wren said his team was able to play tough defense and win a physical game.
“I think the biggest thing is when I got here, people said Union would either win by 40 or lose by 40,” Wren said. “I was told that you couldn’t win the close one here. We faced a big momentum swing in the fourth and didn’t seem to affect by it. It’s good to know you can win games against a quality opponent when you didn’t play your best. We had chances to put them away and didn’t do it but that’s part of being inexperienced on offense.”
The game was a defensive struggle with each team getting three possessions in the first quarter. Union punted all three times. Leake got to the Union 33 late in the third but turned the ball over on downs on the first play of the second quarter.
Union then put together its best drive of the game as they went 67 yards in 13 plays and found the end zone with 5:54 left in the first half as U’Darian Hickmon hit Matthew Lott on a 4-yard touchdown pass. The PAT by Samuel Alawine was good and Union led 7-0.
The Yellowjackets got the ball right back when Leake fumbled on their own 45. Three plays later, Hickmon hit Keon Hutchins on a short screen pass that the speedster turned into a 37-yard touchdown pass with 3:38 left in the half. Alawine’s PAT failed and Union led 13-0.
Union got an interception by Collin Rigdon late in the first half to end a Leake scoring threat.
“Defensively, we knew going in that all of our experience was on defense and said they would have to carry us early in the season,” Wren said. “I thought they stepped up and played a good game. It was a defense game, and we were fortunate enough to hold them to one less score than us.”
After punting to open the second half, Leake got a spark on an interception by Bryce Watkins. The Rebels then drove to the Union 27 before turning the ball over on downs.
Leake got the ball right back on a Union fumble. The Rebels then went on a 12-play, 56-yard drive as Whitt Welch scored on a 4-yard run with 10:51 left in the game. Leake’s PAT failed and Union led 13-6.
Union was forced to punt on the next possession and Leake went marching again, this time putting together a 12-play drive and got the ball as deep as the Union 24 before turning the ball over on downs late in the fourth.
Leake got one more shot late in the fourth, but an interception ended the threat as the Yellowjackets were able to kneel out the clock to take the win.
“I thought both teams came out and competing hard,” Wren said. “It was a great, physical football game. Leake will probably be in that top tier of teams on our schedule as far as how physical they play. That’s why we like playing them. It was a great atmosphere and both teams showed great sportsmanship. Somebody had to win, and somebody had to lose. It could have gone either way.”
Union had 177 yards of total offense with 59 passing and 118 rushing. Leake had 157 yards of total offense with 144 rushing and 13 passing.
Hickmon was 5-of-15 passing for 59 yards with two touchdowns. Xavier Boler had 71 yards rushing on 13 carries while Ky’Yon Harris had 22 yards on six carries.
Keon Hutchins had 55 yards receiving on four catches.
On defense, Tristan Wallace had a big night with 11 solo tackles and one assist. Carlos Hickman had seven tackles and one assist while William Hughlett had six tackles. Harris and Davarian McDonald each had four tackles apiece. Tank Haralson and Germaine Pickens each had three tackles apiece while Cameron Jackson, Omari Holliday and Jacob Freeman each had two tackles apiece. Jackson and Collin Rigdon each had interceptions for Union as well.
Union native Whitt Welch led Leake with 97 yards rushing on 33 carries.
