With a rugged three-game stretch coming, the Union Yellowjackets needed an easy game.
They got it against Stringer on Thursday night.
The Yellowjackets had jumped out to a 21-0 lead and cruised to a 34-0 win over the Red Devils for their sixth win of the season.
Union, now 6-1 on the season, will get its biggest test of the season this week as they host defending 2A champion Scott Central on Friday.
Against Stringer on Thursday, the Yellowjackets struck early and dominated on defense to take the shutout win.
“I thought we played a lot better than we have the last couple of weeks,” Breland said. “We played with a lot more engird. I thought we had fun as a team and I was excited about that. That’s something we tried to point out on film last week. We talked about playing with passion and all of those things. I tell them, they are working hard every day and need to have fun. Games are sort of like your pay day for practicing all week.”
The Yellowjackets got the ball to start the game and wasted little time finding the end zone as Colby Ferguson hit Markus Jones on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 10:24 left in the first. Henry Thornton booted the PAT and Union led 7-0 early in the game.
After forcing a Stringer punt, Union struck quickly as Ferguson hit Jones on a 78-yard touchdown pass with 5:44 left in the first. Thornton’s PAT failed and Union led 13-0.
After getting the ball back quickly, Union responded with another quick touchdown as Kenyon Clay scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass. Thornton’s PAT was good and Union led 20-0 at the end of the first.
“I thought we threw the ball pretty well,” Breland said. “Marcus Jones had a good night and had some big catches for us. I thought the offensive line looked a lot better. I thought that’s the best they have looked since the Newton County game. We gave up 128 yards and most of that was on two big pass plays. I thought the defense played with a lot of energy. That’s the key to defense is playing with passing and I was pleased to see that on Friday night.”
Union added another first half touchdown as Ferguson hit Jamarian Harmon on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 3:19 left in the first half. Thornton’s PAT was good and Union led 27-0.
Union’s last score came in the second half as Carlos Hickman scored on a 14-yard touchdown run. Thornton’s PAT was good and Union led 34-0.
Union had 307 yards of total offense with 137 on the ground. Ferguson was 6-of-9 passing for 170 yards and three TDs. Jones had four catches for 134 yards while Harmon had two catches for 36 yards. Clay led the rushing attack with 71 yards on four carries.
Peyton Posey led the defense with 7.5 tackles while Hickman and Tristan Wallace each had four tackles. Robert Craft had 3.5 stops.
