Union visits Scott Central in showdown

By By Marty Stamper / staff writer
October 21, 2004
The Region 3-1A football game of the year is finally here as unbeatens Union and Scott Central will tangle Friday in the Harperville community outside Forest. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Both teams are 8-0 in Region 3-1A and have run roughshod over the other nine teams in the state's largest region.
Both have already clinched first-round home games in the Class 1A playoffs which will begin in three weeks.
The two head coaches are looking at Friday's matchup in different manners, however.
"It's big in a lot of aspects region championship, undefeated season, hopefully making history as far as Union High School is concerned," Union's Brad Breland said. "But the main goal we have is to win a state championship and win or lose Friday, we're still in good shape to get that.
"We're not going to put all our eggs in one basket. We'd certainly like to win, but if we lose, we're going to come back next week and still go after that main goal and that's the state championship."
Union has never had a perfect regular season, losing 6-4 in the 10th week to Newton in 1968 and 8-7 in overtime to Enterprise in the eighth week in 1985.
"This is the only game we're looking at right here," Scott Central head coach Mickey Bounds said.
No doubt, the Rebels remember Union spoiling their unbeaten season and No. 1 ranking last year with a 21-12 victory. Union's Anthony Johnson had a career game, rushing 33 times for 201 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed a halfback pass for another score.
"They're going to be ready," Breland said of the Rebels. "Coach Bounds said his fans have been asking him all year when this game is, so I expect a big crowd from them.
"Hopefully, our fans will follow us over there. I think we've got something to be proud of for this community. We're undefeated right now and hopefully, our community will follow them over there and be loud and it'll be a lot of fun."
"We're not looking at last year," Bounds insisted. "What happened last year happened. We're just looking at this year."
Bounds has been impressed with the Yellowjackets on film.
"Their quarterback (Jacob Casey) does a real good job," Bounds said. "He throws the ball decent. Their fullback has had a good year too. They've got a real good scheme offensively.
"Johnson is definitely an outstanding running back."
For the year, Johnson has rushed for 1,034 yards and 19 touchdowns on 100 carries. He has 53 touchdowns and 4,006 yards rushing over the last three years.
Defensively, Johnson also has a team-high 59 tackles followed by Nickos Harris with 50, Lorenzo Wells with 46, Jess Brantley with 45, and Jaquarius Talley with 43.
"They're real aggressive defensively," Bounds said. "They run to the ball well. They're just a real solid football team."
Like Union, the Rebels have had a good fall. Fullback Mitch Bradford has scored 10 touchdowns with four coming against Sebastopol. Running back Dakari Murray, a first-year player, has seven touchdowns with four coming against Puckett. Quarterback Shawn Bounds, son of coach Bounds, has thrown 11 touchdown passes. Running back Paul Bradford and fullback Jeremy Williams both have six touchdowns and running back Robert Gilbert has four. Receivers Taylor Boswell and Kendrick Stowers both have three touchdown receptions.
"They lost a lot of people last year, but they've got a lot of good players this year too," Breland said. "They're not quite as big as they were last year, but they all run real well. They've got great team speed and they're extremely aggressive."
"We spread the ball around," Bounds said. "We run a misdirection offense and play about five or six in the backfield every ballgame."
The Rebels do have a decided advantage in the kicking game as Ivan Garcia is 29-of-30 in extra points and has a 46-yard field goal to his credit.
"He's won games for us before," Bounds said. An example would be last year's Class 1A South State championship win over Mize as the Rebels went on to finish second to Weir in Class 1A.