After four straight losses, Union football coach Jordan Wren said practices this past week were a bit rougher than usual.
Those practices paid off as the Yellowjackets snapped a four-game losing streak with a 40-0 win over Southeast Lauderdale.
Union improves to 2-4 on the season and will travel to Enterprise this week to take on unbeaten Bulldogs on Friday night.
Wren said he thought the Yellowjackets played better after three tough practices last week.
“I wasn’t real nice in practice this week,” Wren said. “I wasn’t happy with the effort last week. I thought we had three really good practices and I challenged the kids to answer. It helps having Kenyon back but it’s not about Kenyon but about Union. Either way, I think the non-division schedule we played got us ready to be successful in division play.”
The Yellowjackets got the ball to start the game but fumbled at the Southeast 30. But the Union defense forced a punt to give the offense back the ball.
The Yellowjackets then went 61 yards in nine plays as Clay scored on a 5-yard run with 4:10 left in the first. The try for two failed and Union led 6-0.
After forcing a punt, Union got right back to work on offense. This time Union went 55 yards in six plays as Ky’Yon Harris scored on a 10-yard run with 42 seconds left in the first. Eli Jenkins kicked the PAT and Union led 13-0.
After turning Southeast on downs near midfield, Union went 41 yards in six plays as Clay threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Harris. Clay ran in the two-point conversion and Union led 21-0 with 5:53 left in the second quarter.
The Union defense again turned Southeast over on downs near midfield and Clay again made them pay with a 47 yard touchdown run with 2:33 left in the first. Jenkin’s PAT was good and Union led 28-0, a score that held until halftime.
“It was good to have Kenyon back,” Wren said. “We were pretty careful with him. He only ran it eight times. But when Kenyon is at quarterback, everything just runs a little smoother. He does a good job of managing the offense and not putting us in negative plays.”
The Yellowjackets added two second-half touchdowns. The first came in the third quarter as the Yellowjackets went 39 yards on five plays as Clay scored on a 10-yard run with 7:52 left in third. The PAT failed and Union led 34-0.
Union’s last score came late in the third as William Hughlett scored on a 17-yard touchdown run with 3:55 left in the third. The PAT was blocked and Union led 40-0.
“I thought the defense did a really good job,” Wren said. “Coach (Joey) Ward did a really good job of challenging them in practice. He harped on them about effort all week long. I thought they played the best they have played all year. I was looking for energy and effort and that’s what we got. That was the best we have ran to the football all year.”
The Yellowjackets had 398 yards of offense with 335 rushing and 63 passing. Clay was 5-of-9 passing for 63 yards while rushing for 96 yards on eight carries. Hickmon led the rushing attack with 98 yards on 11 carries while A.J. Wilson had 54 yards on four carries. Harris had 43 yards on seven carries as well.
On defense, Tristan Wallace led the team with 8.5 tackles while Eli Rigdon had six tackles. William Hughlett and Carlos Hickmon each had five tackles while A.J. Wilson had three tackles and an interception.
