Union County’s Jarren Johnson ran for 120 yards, passed for 111 and had a hand in four touchdowns as the Braves ran past Caldwell County 36-7 Friday night in Princeton.
The junior quarterback threw two TD passes and ran for another in the first quarter alone as Union bolted to a 21-0 lead after 12 minutes.
The Braves (3-0) led 28-0 at halftime and 36-0 after three quarters.
Caldwell (0-3) did put together a more competitive second half and scored the first touchdown against the Union defense in two games when Cooper Mobley found paydirt on a 1-yard run with 4 minutes left in the game.
But the Tigers couldn’t contain the speedy and nifty Johnson or the Union offense in the first half.
Johnson hit Caton Wilson with a 16-yard scoring pass just 4:20 in the contest. Kevin Sabino’s extra-point kick put the visitors up 7-0.
On the Braves’ next series, Johnson punched it in on the ground from 2 yards out to cap a quick six-play, 34-yard drive. That made it 14-0.
The Caldwell defense stopped Union on its next possession. However, the Tigers had 12 men on the field on the Braves’ punt, resulting in a first down. Johnson found Duncan Mills for a 33-yard TD connection on the final play of the first quarter to extend the margin to 21-0.
Johnson scored on a 15-yard run with 2:28 left in the first half to give the Braves their 28-0 halftime bulge.
Abreyan Fletcher got into the scoring act for Union with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 1:41 mark of the third period. Johnson then passed to Fletcher in the corner of the end zone for the two-point try to make it 36-0.
That put the mercy rule into effect and meant a running clock for the rest of the night.
That also proved to be the final score of the night for Union.
Caldwell busted up the shutout in the fourth quarter.
Starting at their own 35, the Tigers picked four first downs while marching down the field in 11 plays.
Luke Parker’s 14-yard run got the ball down to the 1-yard line. Mobley carried it across on the next play. Timothy Nichols kicked the PAT to make it 36-7 with 4:00 to go.
Union finished the night with 305 total yards of offense. The Braves got 207 of that in the first half.
After sticking mainly on the ground the first two games, Johnson was 6 of 11 passing for 111 yards.
Mills made two grabs for 68 yards and the score.
Union had 18 first downs compared to 12 for Caldwell.
The Tigers finished the night with 136 total yards.
Gus Fox ran for 61 yards on nine carries while Mobley had 35 yards on 14 attempts.
Parker was 9 of 18 passing for 57 yards with one interception on a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage.
Luke Maddox caught four passes for 24 yards. Fox added three receptions for 17 yards.
Jack Roach led the Tiger defensive effort with 11 tackles.
Union has taken two straight from Caldwell but the Tigers still hold a 22-11 advantage in the all-time series.
The Tigers are home again next Friday, hosting Graves County. The Eagles are 1-2 after beating McEwen, Tennessee 41-6 on Friday night.
Caldwell will honor its 1963 and 1998 state championship teams next Friday.
