COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The effort and athletic ability that had carried Tyner back to the BlueCross 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.