Union football coach Jordan Wren said there was nothing pretty about their win over Choctaw Central on Friday night.
The Yellowjackets overcame an early deficit and took a 32-22 win over the homesteading Warriors on Friday night.
Union moves to 1-0 on the season and will travel to 2A power Scott Central on Friday night.
Wren said considering the circumstances in which the game was played, it was a good win for his team.
“I’m glad we won under the circumstances,” Wren said. “We didn’t get to practice outside this week. I knew it would be a turnover battle and the field conditions would be bad. We weren’t able to throw it as much as we like, and we weren’t able to practice as much as we like and that’s tough on a young offense.”
The Yellowjackets were also short-handed on defense as well.
“We were missing our best player on defense as well,” Wren said. “He’s the quarterback of the defense and we fought through a lot of adversity. I thought the difference was the seniority and experience on our defense. Our defense made some plays and kept control of the game while the offense just sputtered around. When it was good, it was good. But sometimes things just didn’t go our way, but it was better in the second half.”
Choctaw got the ball to start the game and punted on the first drive, but it was partially blocked. The Warriors ended up with the ball again. The Warriors continued to pound away at the Union defense and scored on a 1-yard run with 6:11 left in the first quarter. The PAT was good, and Union led 7-0.
Union took the lead back late in the first when Xavier Boler scored on a 38-yard touchdown run. Ky’Yon Harris ran in the two-point conversion and took an 8-7 lead.
The Warriors then went 49 yards in three plays as they scored on a 44-yard touchdown run with 11:04 left in the second. The PAT failed and Choctaw led 13-8.
Union gave the ball to Choctaw deep after a Boler fumble. But the Union defense held in four plays and took over at the Union 5. Hickmon, however, was tackled moments later for a safety with 8:06 left in the half as Choctaw led 15.8.
The Warriors got the ball back after an interception by Cameron Jackson. Eight plays later, Hickmon hit Harris on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 2:58 left in the half. Hickmon then hit Harris on the two-point conversion and Union led Choctaw 16-15 at the half.
“I think we have a lot of potential on offense,” Wren said. “It’s like any other year when you are young, it’s going to take time for them to make plays. They have relied on Kenyon the last four years. Now we have about three or four players and that helps that everybody shares the load and that’s how it’s going to be.”
Union got the ball to start the second half and hit a big play as Hickmon hit Keon Hutchins on a 64-yard pass play. Harris ran in the two-point conversion and Union led 24-15 with 10:53 left in the third.
The score stayed at 24-15 through the end of the third and the Yellowjackets ran off the fourth quarter before punting. The Warriors then went 75 yards in nine plays and scored on a 4-yard run with 3:11 left in game. The PAT was good, and Union held a slim 24-22 lead.
But Union answered right back as Hickmon ripped off a 50-yard run and then Harris scored on a 3-yard run with 1:55 left in the game. Hickmon ran in the two-point conversion and Union led 32-22.
“I thought Bug played good and managed the game really well,” Wren said. “When plays needed to be made, he made them. There are some things he has to do better, and he’s going to get better every week. He’s a sophomore quarterback and didn’t fumble or throw a pick. He was 12-of-17 passing and that’s promising.”
Union had 320 yards of total offense in the game with 138 yards passing and 182 rushing.
Hickmon was 11-of-16 passing for 138 yards and two TDs. Boler had 100 yards rushing on 13 carries while Hickmon had 54 yards on five carries. Harris had 29 yards on four carries.
Keon Hutchins had three catches for 65 yards while Mason Tucker had four catches for 35 yards.
Carlos Hickmon led the Union defense with 12 tackles, including five for a loss. Germaine Pickens had six tackles while Samuel Alawine had five tackles and two for a loss. Vaiden Bouder, Tank Haralson and Jacob Freeman each had four tackles apiece while Cameron Jackson had three tackles and an interception. Ky’Yon Harris had three tackles while William Hughlett and Collin Rigdon each had two tackles.
