Union City @ Obion Central...County Rivalry Time !!

[Purple & Gold Standard]

Well it's that time again.....The Union City Golden Tornadoes head south down Hwy 51 to face the much improved Rebels of Obion County Central......UC comes into the game reeling from their first loss of the young season after seeing the Huntingdon Mustangs roar back from a 28-7 deficit to win 44-35 at War Memorial Stadium Friday night.....OC will enter the contest riding the momentum of their second win in their last 24 games after beating the Cape Central Tigers from Missouri 43-25 in Troy....

 

This will be a very interesting match-up....You have the return of coach Darren Bowling bringing his state ranked Tornadoes into Troy to face his former team, albeit for the second time in two years....A quirk in the schedules saw UC also travel to Troy last season..That game saw UC grind out a hard-fought 19-9 victory...You have the much talked about running game of the Tornadoes facing a defense that has allowed alot of points this season...You have the OC spread offense that has become pretty balanced with the running of Patrick Haskins, Patrick Minnick, Lucas Fulbright and others and a passing game that will surely look to utilize big 6'5" Jaquis Williams to exploit Union City's two short, freshman cornerbacks..This will be a huge challenge for the Union City coaching staff....Will Union City's defense be able to stop both??..Will they be able to put pressure on Haskins and stay fresh knowing that the speedy quarterback (reportedly clocked at 4.6 in the 40) can tuck the ball and run??...Will the UC secondary be able to stay on their receivers and cover the many routes the Rebels will run??...The Obion Central Rebels did about as well as anyone, McKenzie included taking Colton Speed out of the game last season...The OC defense ran a real good scheme against the Tornadoes...UC's O'line did have a great push that allowed Luke Sanderson to gain over 100 yards rushing before he was hurt...I think UC is much stronger in their running game this year with the emergence of Kendrick Price along with Josh Nicks and the smart running of Chase Bowling....OC will probably run the same scheme as last year against the Tornadoes defensively and hope they can put more points on the board with their more balanced offense...Union City will have a decidedly huge advantage in the kicking game as the Tornadoes haven't missed on an extrapoint this season and have hit a FG to boot....The Rebels??..Well they are very suspect in this department....

 

This will be a very important game on the schedule because after UC's first loss last week, we'll get to see how they respond...Last year they ran off 10 consecutive victories after a season-opening loss to Westview...UC will face a tough few weeks starting with OC...They face TCA next week in Jackson, go to Greenfield then face the Humboldt Vikings in Union City in what could be for the district championship....OC will face a down Covington team before facing Dyersburg..A win over Union City would put OC at 3-2 and would give OC huge momentum heading into the second half of the year....

 

As for a prediction....I don't see a 19-9 game again....If UC does hold this offense to 9 points you will have to give a huge pat on the back to the coaching staff for the scheme and to the players for their effort...The Rebs lowest output is 20 and they scored 21 on a very talented Crockett County team in Alamo....This one has the potential to be one of the most exciting games in series history....The place will be packed.....

 

Union City-31

Obion Central-26

[mrbigster]

I'm going with Union City 38-14 or somewhere in that range..Maybe 42-14.

[justaOCfan]

It will be tough to stop the UC running attack, and I think the Rebels will have to go with slowing down UC and forcing them to work for every yard without giving up the big plays. OC needs to have their passing game on target, and open the routes with some running game of their own. The offense is more balanced this year and that is a welcome sight. OC needs to come out of the locker room in high gear and avoid the slow start they've been having. UC has a good defense but may have the young corners exploited as you said. I know they are good players or they wouldn't be starters. Time will tell how it works out I guess. Expect a big crowd, thank goodness for plenty of parking albeit a good walk if you get there late. I say OC 28 UC 26. Go Rebels!!!

[sb38devils]

Union City will come back firing on all cylinders after there loss to Huntington. They will be mean and ready to play after the hard loss. I will get ugly before the game is over.

[Butchie]

Well I Was For The Tornadoes Last Week...Not Gonna Jump Ship Now... I'm With Big Swo And The Chicken Inspector On This One.

[uc4pride]

I'm with ya Butchie.

You don't know who I am but I am very close to Swo (but he don't know who i am either )

Thanks for the support and good luck to your McKenzie Rebels this week

Ya'll have a good program over there and wish you all the best from Union City.

 

Now, for the game

This is probably the best team that OC has ever had, no doubt.

They have a lil bit of everything: size, speed, strength, and athletes.

OC is much bigger than UC but that is usually the case for whoever UC plays lol.

Should be a good game but the much improved Rebels won't be able to stop their old offense.

 

UC- 38

OC- 14

 

Go Tornadoes!!!!!!!

[Purple & Gold Standard]

This is NOT the best team OC has ever had......It's not even as good as the Rebel team of 3 years ago (the team that won the last game before this year)...The one that was 6-4 and just a couple plays short of a 8-2 record....

[#1contender]

OC is well improved??? I figured the reason they won games this year was just the opponents are weaker. I'm not sure about Jaquis being 6.5... The freshmen CB shouldnt have much to worry about it if UC's D-line wants to play... It is all up to them about how many points OC scores. They are so quick that stopping the run shouldnt be a problem. Also their speed should be able to keep the pass from ever developing. If OC breaks the LOS Rance Barnes is in the middle to punish you.. OC should try to run the same scheme as last year bc it almost worked.. OC will no what the back of nick's and Price's jerseys look like by the end of the game...UC runs away with this after losing their last one.

 

49-14 UC

[Purple & Gold Standard]

OC is well improved??? I figured the reason they won games this year was just the opponents are weaker. I'm not sure about Jaquis being 6.5... The freshmen CB shouldnt have much to worry about it if UC's D-line wants to play... It is all up to them about how many points OC scores. They are so quick that stopping the run shouldnt be a problem. Also their speed should be able to keep the pass from ever developing. If OC breaks the LOS Rance Barnes is in the middle to punish you.. OC should try to run the same scheme as last year bc it almost worked.. OC will no what the back of nick's and Price's jerseys look like by the end of the game...UC runs away with this after losing their last one.

 

49-14 UC

 

Well, after going 0-20, 2-2 is much improved regardless of who you play....You could also say UC is 2-1 because they played two weaker opponents to start the season....Jock may be closer to 6'4".....UC's D-Line will have to improve on their effort, or lack thereof, from last Friday night...Two kids rushed for 358 yards alone and I'm pretty sure the Mustangs rushed pretty close to 400 yards on the night...That was without the threat of the pass at all...OC will pose alot of problems for the UC coaching staff...Do you blitz and put pressure all night long on Haskins??...If they do watch for the Rebels to hit UC with screens, hot passes and draws...Do you sit back and try to defend the pass??..If they do watch for OC to utilize Haskins in the run game along with Minnick, Fulbright & Armour....Last season the Rebels passed for close to 200 yards but the Tornadoes stopped their run game...They (OC) also dropped quite a few open passes...It's going to take it's toll trying to rush Haskins because he is so much faster than Jackson Yeager, the Rebel QB last season plus Haskins is an overall better player than Yeager...OC will use the same scheme as last year, no doubt...They will just have to do better..UC absolutely controlled time of possession...UC got two, three & four yards at a time...UC doesn't have the breakaway threat at QB they did last year but they have better backs overall than last season...Price, Nicks & Worley, if healthy, will cause OC fits...Bowling is smart with his running..He won't run away from anybody like Speed did but he carries out his fakes well and reads the defense....The Rebels defend the pass every day in practice so IF UC does attempt to keep the Rebel D honest it won't be foreign to them...If OC in any way forces UC to pass it's going to be a long night for the Tornadoes...OC always plays UC tough...It's still the biggest game on their schedule and it's in Troy..It's going to be a tough game and one UC players and fans alike would do good not to overlook...

[volfan007]

For some reason, I want to call an upset here. OC...28 UC...24

[OCVol]

Saying that UC is going to score more points than Crockett County is very questionable to me.

 

Get ready for some Crow

[treefitty74]

I can't see Union City's corners being able to defend the pass....I just don't see it.....If Pat has time in the pocket they will make the Freshmen look silly.....OC is going to come out fired up....don't think anything different.....I'm going with the Rebels on this one.....(The only time I will pick against UC all year)......

 

OC 35

UC 31