Union County used a devastating ground assault to churn out a 42-14 victory over Caldwell County on Friday night.
Jarren Johnson ran for 231 yards and three touchdowns while teammate Willem McPeake had another 81 rushing yards and two scores at Union’s Baker Field.
Johnson’s effort put him over 3,000 rushing yards for his career.
McPeake’s 10-yard scoring run early in the second half put the Braves up 27-7.
However, Caldwell (1-2) tried to claw its way back into the contest.
A 16-yard scoring run by quarterback Daelyn Lander cut the gap to 27-14 with 4:27 left in the third quarter.
A defensive stop got Caldwell the ball back, and the Tigers picked up a pair of first downs while moving into Union territory.
But with momentum apparently on Caldwell’s side, a Tiger pass was picked off by Union’s Coltin Capps, who returned the ball 21 yards to the Caldwell 45.
Ten runs later, Johnson carried the final 2 yards to the end zone on fourth down, helping to extend the margin to 35-14 and essentially extinguishing any Caldwell comeback plans.
Keelyn Gobin then put the finishing touches on Union’s win when he returned a fumble 11 yards for a touchdown as the margin grew to 42-14 with 5:49 left in the contest.
Union (2-1) had 373 total yards, with 355 of that coming on the ground. The Braves rushed for 262 yards in the first half while taking a 21-7 lead to the break.
Caldwell had 179 yards of offense, with 143 of that in the air as Lander completed 17 of 28 attempts with one interception.
The Tigers struck first Friday night on a 16-yard scoring pass from Lander to Luke Parker down the middle. Sutton Ritchey’s extra point made it 7-0 at the 8:43 mark of the second quarter.
An 8-yard touchdown run by Johnson helped knot things at 7-7 after one quarter.
McPeake had a 4-yard TD carry in the second quarter while Johnson scored on a 3-yard run to give the Braves their 21-7 cushion at the intermission.
Union has taken three straight from Caldwell, but the Tigers still lead the all-time series 22-12.
Caldwell hits the road again next week to play at Graves County.
Union goes to Murray next Friday.
(Editor’s note: Updated to correct Union County’s rushing stats.)
One Response
Thanks for the article. I don’t know who gave you the yardage but they were mistaken. Jarren Johnson had 231 and Willem McPeake had 81. Also Jarren surpassed 3000 yards in the game in the game. This comes after two seasons and his first three games in his third.
Thanks again!