The Union Yellowjackets used a dominating defensive performance and a steady supply of offense to take down Class 1A Stringer on Thursday night.
The Yellowjackets gave up just 45 yards of offense and cruised to a 42-3 win over the Red Devils on Thursday night.
Union improves to 6-1 on the season and will travel to Scott Central to take on the Rebels in a key Division 6-2A matchup.
“I thought we played pretty well,” Union coach Jordan Wren said. “We got some people back and that helped us on offense. I thought Jaylon and Kenyon ran the ball well. We got to play a lot of guys and that’s always good. It was a good all-around win.
The Yellowjackets started slow but finally got on the board midway through the first quarter as Clay scored on a 3-yard run. The PAT by Henry Thornton failed and Union held an early 6-0 lead.
But the Yellowjackets got things rolling in the second quarter with 36 points. The first score came in the air as Clay hit Matthew Lott on a 1-yard touchdown pass with 11:53 left in the second. Clay hit Mark Jones on the two-point conversion attempt and Union led 14-0.
The Yellowjackets got the ball right back on a turnover and Jaylon Buckley found the end zone on a 43-yard touchdown run with 11:05 left in the second quarter. Thornton’s PAT was good and Union led 21-0.
The second-quarter onslaught continued as Kenyon Clay scored on a 40-yard touchdown run with 5:48 left in the half. Thornton’s PAT was good and Union led 28-0.
Union added two more score late in the second quarter as Clay hit Mark Jones o a 40-yard touchdown pass with 2:38 left in the half. Thornton booted the PAT and Union led 35-0.
The last score came a little over a minute later as Clay scored on an 11-yard run with 1:26 left in the half. Thornton booted the PAT and Union led 42-0 at the half.
With the subs playing the second half with a running clock, Stringer managed on a 41-yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter for the final of 42-3.
“I thought the defense played really well,” Wren said. “They were never really able to get anything going on offense. And we were able to play a lot of guys on that side of the football.”
Union outgained Stringer 339 to 45. Union had 242 yards rushing on 26 carries and threw for 97 yards. Clay was 6-of-13 passing for two TDs and also led the Yellowjackets in rushing with 142 yards on eight carries. Buckley returned from a two-week absence and had 91 yards rushing on eight carries. Jones had three catches for 68 yards as well.
On defense, Union limited Stringer to just 45 yards of total offense with 36 yards rushing and 11 passing. Eli Rigdon and Tristan Wallace each had five tackles apiece while Davarian McDonald had four tackles. Raylon Nettles, Ky’Yon Harris and Trodarian Campbell each had three tackles apiece while Dominique Haralson and Dayton McDonald each had two tackles apiece.
