Yellowjackets fall to Northside 20-3 to end their season
After losing to Sebastopol and Philadelphia and finishing fourth in Division 4-2A, Union coach Jordan Wren challenged his kids to band together and play hard.
That message hit home as the Yellowjackets put together an unexpected playoff run, beating Walnut and Leflore County before falling to Northside in the third round of the Class 2A playoffs on Friday.
Union finishes the season with a 5-8 record.
Wren said the difference on Friday night was the Yellowjackets failure to capitalize on scoring opportunities in the first half.
“I think it boils down to we just didn’t make the big-time play in the big-time situations on offense,” Wren said. “That was kind of the story of the season for us. We had a great opening drive but came up empty and just didn’t finish. We had field position the whole first half and didn’t take advantage of that.”
Union got the ball to start the first half and put together an 11-play drive as they drove to the Northside 35 before turning the ball over on downs.
Northside gave the ball right back with an interception. But the Yellowjackets turned the ball over on downs again.
After a short Northside punt, Union had the ball at the Northside 29. Five plays later, Aidan Davis then hit a 25-yard field goal with 8:01 left in the half to give Union a 3-0 lead.
The Union defense got a big stop as Omarri Holliday intercepted a ball in the end zone to end a 12-play drive for the Gators.
After a Union punt, Myilan Moore intercepted another Northside pass as the Yellowjackets went to the half with a 3-0 lead.
“We played fantastic on defense,” Wren said. “They only scored one touchdown on the defense and the other two were on special teams. We had three interceptions and made them earn every yard. I thought we tackled well because they have a lot of talent.”
Northside got the ball to start the second half and returned the kick 95 yards for a touchdown with 11:41 left in the third. The try for two was good and Northside led 8-3.
Union got pinned deep but put together an 11-play drive before losing a fumble at the Northside 38. Northside then pulled off a trick play with a 49-yard touchdown pass on a fake punt. The try for two failed and the Gators led 14-3.
Union turned the ball over on downs on its next two drives, the last giving Northside the ball at their own 20. Northside then scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass for the final margin of 20-3.
Wren said he was glad to see how his team grew in the last part of the season.
Union had 112 yards passing and 129 yards rushing for 241 yards of total offense. Moore was 11-21 passing with one interception and also rushed for 64 yards on 14 carries. Quinn Harris ran for 49 yards on 18 carries. Mason Tucker had 59 yards on four carries while Zi Buckley had four catches for 30 yards. Omarri Holliday also had 23 yards on two catches.
On defense, Buckley led the Yellowjackets with 14 tackles while William Breedlove had five tackles. Quinn Harris and Aidan Davis each had four tackles while Holliday, John Perry, Koby Hutchins and Jordan Smith each had three tackles. Holliday had two interceptions while Moore also had an interception.