Union City edges Rams in second overtime to win Class 2A state title
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — The effort and athletic ability that had carried Tyner back to the Blue-Cross Bowl for the first time in 20 years were on full display Friday afternoon at Tennessee Tech University.
The Rams showed plenty of determination in rallying from a 14-0 deficit, fighting back to tie the game late and force overtime, but bruising Union City ultimately won the Class 2A football state championship 27-21 in double overtime.
“We kept fighting, right up to the end,” said Tyner senior quarterback Jaylen Bowens, who finished with 97 passing yards, two touchdowns and a huge two-point conversion. “It was very frustrating on defense because we couldn’t get them off the field as much as we needed to.”
The Golden Tornadoes ran the ball 72 times, never attempting a pass, for 323 yards and held the ball for 18 minutes more than Tyner.
On the game’s opening possession, Union City drove 62 yards in nine plays with Trey Jones scoring
on a 3-yard run. After forcing a Tyner punt, the Golden Tornadoes appeared to take control with a 14-play, 94-yard drive, capped by quarterback Braxton Waddell’s 11-yard touchdown run.
But Tyner (12-3) answered with a 33-yard touchdown run by senior Jeremy Elston, and from there both defenses came up with big stops until late in the fourth quarter.
Union City (13-2), which converted five of seven fourth downs into firsts for the game, was turned away at the 2-yard line on fourth down after a 25-play, 94-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter. Golden Tornadoes coach Darren Bowling admitted after the game that he had lost track of what down it was and actually thought the fourth down was only third down.
“I told the guys going into overtime they were going to have to bail
me out,” Bowling said. “Thankfully, they did.”
With 1:05 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Rams took possession at their 34 and scored in four plays, the last one when sophomore Jeremiah Batiste made a leaping catch and fell into the end zone with just 14 seconds remaining to cut the lead to two. Going for two points, Bowens scrambled in the backfield, avoiding several defenders before lobbing a pass into the corner of the end zone, where Batiste made a diving catch to tie it.
“When we got the ball, we just kept telling each other that we all had to make plays,” Tyner senior Ke’un Webb said. “It didn’t matter who it was: Anybody that got a chance had to make some big plays.”
Union City scored first in overtime, but Tyner answered with a 7-yard scoring toss from Bowens to Elston, and coach Wayne Turner thought briefly about winning or losing the game with a two-point-conversion attempt. Instead he opted to tie the game and force a second overtime, but Union City intercepted a pass in the end zone on Tyner’s second snap and one play later Waddell scored the game-winner on a 10-yard run.
“The kids never quit,” Turner said. “They battled for four quarters against a really tough team. Their kid just made a great play on the interception, and that was it.
“When these seniors were freshmen, we didn’t even make the playoffs. They’ve put in a lot of work to get the program back to this point, and I’ll always remember the way they fought and never gave up in any game. They showed a lot of heart all year, including today.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.