Apparently 58 was the magic number in middle school football play Tuesday night.
Both Union City and South Fulton put up 58 points in bettering their already-impressive records — the Tornadoes winning a lopsided 58-6 decision vs. Lake Road and South Fulton winning a 58-38 shootout against Fulton County.
Union City remained unbeaten after six games, while SF is now 6-1 on the season.
The following is a recap of those games.
FOOTBALL
UC 58, Lake Rd. 6
Jeremy Bumpus scored three touchdowns and a two-point conversion and Taeshawn Allen ran for two TDs and a couple of PATs to help the Tornadoes stay perfect.
Bumpus hit paydirt on runs of 23, 38 and 47 yards, while Allen had scoring jaunts covering 12 and five yards.
Union City scored 22 points in both the first and second quarters to zoom to a comfortable 44-6 halftime lead.
Jalen Crumble had a 33-yard touchdown run and Cooper Hurt returned a punt 57 yards for a score to add to the Twister highlights.
Nolan Faulkner concluded the scoring for UC with a 37-yard TD scamper and then added the two-point play.
Ashton Webb’s five tackles and four stops by Santiago Ruiz headlined the Tornadoes’ defensive effort.
On the Lake Road side, Sinclair Forrest had an 80-yard kickoff return for the Generals’ lone score.
Forrest also had 54 yards rushing on six carries, while Ian Ferguson had six attempts for 38 yards.
Forrest also led LR defensively with six tackles.
Joel Johnson was in on five hits, while Thomas Mathis had four for the Generals.
Union City plays at Halls next Tuesday in West Tennessee Athletic Conference action, while Lake Road (0-5) ends its season with a home game against Lake County Thursday at 5 p.m.
SF 58, Fulton Co. 38
All three of Carter Hodges’ completions went for touchdowns — all in the second quarter — as the Red Devils blitzed Fulton County.
Hodges hooked up with Jyriq Jones on a 6-yard score, then hit Zaccius Mays (19 yards) and Branden Land (36 yards) on touchdown plays as SF jumped out to a commanding 39-8 lead.
Hodges also hooked up with Kody Davidson for a two-point conversion.
Both Davidson and Hayden Kelly had interceptions that were returned to paydirt, Davidson’s covering 42 yards and opening the scoring, while Kelly’s went for 30 yards into the endzone.
Jones had a 38-yard touchdown run, Mays scooted 49 yards for a score and Jalen Scott put a capper on South Fulton’s onslaught with a seven-yard TD.
Jose Rico kicked a pair of PATs.
Davidson had six tackles to go along with his pick to top the SF defensive chart. Hunter Hamilton recorded five stops, while Jones, Mays and Bailey Collings were all in on four.
South Fulton plays at Hillcrest on Thursday and can secure a berth in the Rebel Bowl with a triumph.

Published in The Messenger 9.26.12