Union Begins Region Play in Dominating Fashion
FYNTV, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports, UCHS Football, Union County High School October 9, 2022
After a two-week hiatus, the Panthers returned to the field and dominated Banks County on Friday night, winning 42-7. The Panthers held the Leopards to just 218 yards and only 75 yards in the air. Union was trailing after the first quarter 7-6, but after a 21-point 2nd quarter and a second half shutout, Union ran away with it. The Panthers now sit at 5-1 overall and 1-0 in region play, while Banks County they fall to 4-3 on the season and 0-2 in region play.
Team Notes
Union County did everything they wanted to on offense as they totaled 390 yards on 49 plays and took this one 42-7. Union has now scored 42 or more points in each of their last four games. Caiden Tanner led the way for the Panthers as he threw for 217 yards and two TDs as well as adding 3 TDs on the ground. Senior Griff Young led the team in rushing yards with 75 yards on 6 carries while Braylen Rader also had a good game with 73 yards on 8 carries and a TD. Jensen Goble led the Panthers in receiving yards with 89 yards on 6 receptions, Young added another 56 yards receiving and caught a TD, and junior Zach Taylor brought in 3 receptions for 48 yards and a TD. The defense showed up in a big way limiting the Banks County offense to just 218 yards and kept them off the board for 3 quarters.
Nothing went right for Banks County after the first quarter, and they now fall to 0-2 in region play. They did win the turnover battle, but that was it. The offense was unable to find any momentum and their defense could not stop Tanner and the Panthers. Neither Maxpreps nor Hudl had individual stats posted for Banks County.
Look Ahead
Union will play host to Providence Christian Academy (2-4) next week and the Leopards will travel to Athens to take on the 4-1 Athens Academy Spartans.
Union storms into Hiawassee and blows out the Indians
Team FYN Sports, UCHS Football, Union County High School September 5, 2022
Photos courtesy of Union County Schools Facebook page
The Union County Panthers move to 2-1 on the season after blowing out Towns County 42-7 on Friday night. The Panthers were led by a trio of juniors on offense in this one as QB Caiden Tanner, RB Braylen Rader, and WR Jensen Goble led the Panthers to this big victory. Union’s defense does deserve the spotlight however, as they totaled 18 TFLs, and were credited with 19 QB hurries, while also forcing 3 turnovers.
Team Notes
It was all Union all game. They outgained the Indians by 158 yards and finished the game scoring 35 unanswered points while shutting out Towns in the second half. As mentioned, the offense was led by the trio of juniors; Tanner was 20/29 for 190 yards and 3 TDs, Rader totaled 125 yards and 2 TDs on 18 carries and averaged 6.9 YPC, and Goble had 88 receiving yards and a TD on 5 receptions. WR’s Griff Young and Zach Taylor caught the other two TD passes, while Connor Schuknecht added a TD on the ground. The defense however deserves most of the attention as they held Towns to just 210 yards and the one early score. Led by Elijah Helton, who led the team in tackles (12), the Panthers were all over the backfield in this one. They had 4 different players who each got 3 TFLs and Taylor Whitehead added 9 more tackles and 3 PDs. The Panthers should carry over a lot of momentum into next week after this blowout win.
Towns was happy to see the clock hit 0 as they were unable to get anything done in this one. They were held to only 53 yards on the ground and totaled only 8 first downs in this one, going 3-13 on 3rd downs. Neither Maxpreps nor Hudl had individual stats posted for Towns County.
Look Ahead
Union will travel to Rome to take on the 2-0 Armuchee Indians who are coming off a Bye Week after squeaking out two wins by a total of 7 points combined. As for Towns they will welcome their upcoming Bye Week this week as they look to fix up the defense before heading to Rome to take on Coosa (1-2) on 09/16.