Both Fort White and Union County entered Friday either state ranked or receiving votes in the latest Associated Press state football rankings, however both might drop out after dropping their first loss of the season. The following contains information from Larry Savage from the Gainesville Sun and Tony Brit from the Lake City Reporter.
Dixie County 20, Union County 7
LAKE BUTLER – Both teams entered undefeated and untested in this highly hyped Suwannee Conference opener, but only one would go home still undefeated. Union County was ranked No. 4 in the latest AP Poll, while Dixie County was receiving votes essentially No. 6 in the poll.
A James Smith 3 yard run gave the Bears a quick 7-0 lead, which held through halftime; as the Bears did a nice job containing FSU commit Union County tailback Charles Strong.
After a missed field goal attempt by the Bears, the defense stepped up as Carlos Williams Jr. returned an interception 34 yards for another Bears score and 14-0 lead with under five minutes left in the third quarter.
Just when the Tigers appeared to finally put a drive together down to the 25-yard line, a fumbled snap was recovered 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage resulting in another punt.
The Bears responded with a 19 play, 96 yard drive putting the game away with a Aaron Dawson 3-yard touchdown run and 20-0 lead with under three minutes left in the game.
Brian Scott connected with Keyshawn Young on a 24 yard touchdown pass with 41 seconds left for the Tigers to avoid the shutout.
Union County (3-1, 0-1) host Baldwin next week in a non conference showdown, while Dixie (4-0, 1-0) will travel to Chiefland next Thursday.
Taylor County 27, Fort White 16
PERRY – Fort White went into Perry undefeated and full of confidence heading into their inaugural Suwannee Conference game, unfortunately they left with their first loss and possible devastating injuries too.
Indians tailback Jacquez Pelham suffered a leg injury in the second quarter and was unable to return to the game. A big blow for the Indians offense. Mammoth offensive lineman Dough Johnson, who has 11 offers including most recently Auburn, was also injured in the game and had to come out temporarily as well.
Hunter Morgan connected with Corey Dryden from 6 yards out to give the Indians a quick 6-0 lead; however it didn’t last long as Taylor County returned the ensuing kickoff back 82 yards for a score giving the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead with 3:54 left in the first quarter.
Taylor County went to the air for the second touchdown taking a 14-6 lead with 4:10 left till half time after recovering a Dryden fumble.
A surprised high pooch kick lead to another quick score and 21-6 lead at the half for the Bulldogs.
Stanley Maxwell cut the Bulldogs lead to 22-14 with a 21 yard run in the third quarter. A high snap sailed out of the endzone cut the lead to 22-16 putting the Indians back in the game.
However, the Bulldogs responded to put it out of reach with a 13 yard pass increasing their lead to 27-16 with less than five minutes to play.
Fort White (3-1, 0-1) travels to Bradford County next Friday in a non-conference game; while Taylor County (2-1, 1-0) takes the week off before traveling to Dixie County in two weeks for another Suwannee Conference game.
