Last year, Noxapater felt like they let a win slip away at Union.
This year, it was Union coach Brad Breland who felt like he let a win slip away.
Union led 7-6 at the half but Noxapater used two second-half scores to take a 20-7 win over the Yellowjackets.
After leading at the half, it was a disappointing loss for the Yellowjackets.
“I felt like this was a game that we could and should have won,” Union coach Brad Breland said. “For some reason or the other, we aren’t playing really hard and aren’t on the same page. We look unorganized and don’t look like we should. Maybe I expect too much of them. But we aren’t playing with the same intensity that we played with in the jamboree. We have taken a step back since the jamboree. We need two or three guys to step up and play with a little more heart and intensity.”
Union got the ball to start the game and went on an 11-play drive as they got to the Noxapater 14 before turning the Yellowjackets over on downs.
The Tigers struggled with field position for the rest of the half. Their last drive of the half started at their own 19 as they went on a 12-play, 81-yard drive. Freshman quarterback K.D. Carter had a big 26-yard run on fourth down to keep the drive going and scored on a 2-yard run with 3:16 left in the half. The two-point conversion failed and Noxapater had a 6-0 lead.
The Yellowjackets responded with an 11-play, 60-yard drive as quarterback Colby Ferguson scored on a 5-yard run with 11 seconds left in the half. The PAT was good and Union led 7-6 at the half.
The Tigers got the ball to start the second half and needed just four plays to go 73 yards. After a big 55-yard pass from Carter to Raheem Hathorn, Carter finished off the drive with a 27-yard run on a quarterback draw with 9:20 left in the third. Carter ran in the two-point conversion and Noxapater led 14-7.
“We are just giving up too many yards,” Breland said. “We just aren’t mean enough. They are great kids but somebody has to get tough. Football is a tough sport and somebody has got to step up and get after it a little bit more. We have always had that guy. We have to find that guy who is going to pick up up and be the man.”
After forcing Union to punt on its next possession, the Tigers had another long field, starting at their own 15. But it took just five plays to go the 85 yards, thanks to a big 36-yard run from Joshua McClendon. Carter finished off the drive with a 36-yard run with 2:48 left in the third. The two-point conversion attempt failed and Noxapater led 20-7.
“It was a tough, hard-fought football game for four quarters,” Noxapater coach Casey Orr said. “I didn’t think we were as clean as we needed to be in the first half. But we were able to sustain some drives. I thought the defense played well. Our guys did a good job of competing. The defense did a good job of bailing out the offense until we could find some success.”
For the Yellowjackets, they had 252 yards of total offense with 146 rushing and 106 passing. Ferguson was 11-of-21 for 106 yards with one interception. Ferguson also had 83 yards rushing on 15 carries while Kenyon Clay had 48 yards on 13 carries. Trevor Patchin had 29 yards receiving on two catches while Clay had 28 yards receiving on three catches. Jamarian Harmon had 24 yards receiving on three catches.
Peyton Posey and Jaylor Buckley each had five tackles apiece while Kenyon Clay had 4.5 tackles. Michael Rush and Markus Jones each had 3.5 tackles apiece.
The Tigers had 313 yards rushing and 55 passing for 372 yards of total offense. Carter had a big night with 205 yards on 12 carries. McClendon had 47 yards on seven carries while Hathorn had 31 yards on seven carries.
