Philadelphia proved that they were the No. 1 team in Class 2A, as they defeated Union 56-6 Thursday night.
However, Union also got on the scoreboard for the first time since a 22-20 win over Noxapater on Sept. 1. Dustin Wellborn’s recovery of a Philadelphia fumble set up the drive.
Trodarian Campbell was the workhorse on the drive gaining all but seven yards on the 62-yard drive. He picked up five yards on third-and-three and 30 more on another key third-down play.
He capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown with 20 seconds remaining in the game.
Campbell led the Jackets with 61 yards on 10 carries. Peyton Posey also had seven of his 18 yards on the final drive.
Union coach Brad Breland knew his team would have a tough time handling the top-ranked Tornadoes. His undermanned Yellowjackets gave it all they had, but he said they just lost to a better team.
“I really thought we competed better early on and we played more physical than we did last week,” Breland said. “I don’t have a problem if they’ve got a better athlete or they outrun us as long as we are physical and we’re giving 100 percent. That’s all I’ll ever ask of them.
“We just have to get better and not accept losing. If we start accepting losing, we’re going to be losers for life.”
Philadelphia’s Cortney Smith picked up where he left off last week against Newton and raced for a 24-yard touchdown. Ahyunte' Crosby passed to Lideatrick Griffin for the two-point conversion.
Those two connected for a 41-yard touchdown minutes later with Smith tacking on the two-point conversion.
Fullback Deindre Fox raced 30 yards for a touchdown, and Chris Griffin picked up a Union fumble and raced 24 yards for a touchdown, to give Philadelphia a 30-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Malik Hickman added a five-yard touchdown with a Connor Long extra point. Fox added a 35-yard touchdown to close out the scoring in the first half.
Lideatrick Griffin then returned the second half kickoff 79 yards for another score. Raedarius Triplett added the final Philadelphia score, this time from 52 yards out.
