East Union Football

EAST UNION FOOTBALL urcHinS loaded at lineBacKer, young on o-line

eaSt union at a glance

2021 record: 7-5, 5-0, (lost in second round)

Head coach: Brandon Cherry

playerS to watcH

CALEB JOHNSON

TE/MLB, Sr. • Played center for Urchins in 2021 and on defense.

CONNOR TIMMS

TE/MLB. Sr. • Had nine carries for 58 yards with TD in 2021, caught one TD pass.

RILEY WILLIAMS

R/CB, Jr. • Rushed for 133 yards on 18 carries and 2 TDs in playoff win over O’Bannon.

DREW HOLLIMON

QB, So. • Sophomore will draw his first starting assignment this season, throws a great deep ball and very elusive according to his coach.

coacHing ‘em up

Brandon Cherry begins year one with the Epic Urchins after serving as offensive coordinator for the past few years. Lamar Harvey joins the East Union coaching staff after five years as head coach at Okolona.

Caleb Stephens makes history as the first-ever former Urchin player to coach at East Union as an assistant.

oFFenSe

Drew Hollimon (So.) will direct the East Union offense from the quarterback position and will be a first-year starter after Rett Johnson decided to concentrate on baseball.

Riley Williams (Jr.) will be one of Hollimon’s primary targets along with Daniel Whitfield (So.). Both have big play ability.

Returning at running back are Hayden Frazier (Jr.) rushed for 861 yards in 2021 with 11 TDs and averaged 6.4 yards per carry plus Luke McVey (Jr.) who averaged 6.4 yards on 328 yards and 2 TDs.

The Urchins will have an entirely new front five in the offensive line for 2022, but the group got some playing experience in 2021.

deFenSe

Cherry says the Urchins are loaded at linebacker with six or seven players in the mix and says they are some of the best he has ever coached.

Connor Timms (Sr.) and Caleb Johnson (Sr.) will be the leaders of the linebacking corp and Garrettt Adams (Jr.) figures to be a major presence too.

Special teamS

Connor Timms will punt for the Urchins, but Cherry is still working on developing a kicker for extra points and field goals. Long snapper will be Adams while Williams, Whitfield and McVey will be return men.

X-Factor

The backbone for East Union this season will be the play of their defense and they will be the key if the Urchins are to be successful.

ScHedule analySiS

East Union will have year two of a very demanding non-division schedule against some extremely talented teams.

The Urchins will host county rival New Albany of 4A in August to start the season.

East Union will travel to Heritage Academy and East Webster to face two perennial powers in private and 2A school divisions in September.

Back-to-back home game will feature Booneville and Eudora which will provide more stiff competition.

East Union will close out the month of September with their 1-2A opener at home against Belmont.

October will see the Urchins at home against Walnut and Potts Camp while they will travel to county rival Myrtle and Baldwyn.

East Union went 1-4 in the nondivision side of the schedule in 2021, but rebounded strong to go 5-0 and win the division again for a fourth consecutive title.

The final game of the year against Baldwyn could decide the division champion again in 2022 as it did the previous year.

Head coacH Brandon cHerry (FirSt SeaSon at eaSt union)

aSSiStant coacHeS:

Stephen Basil, Scott Duley, Lamart Harvey, Caleb Stephens, Brian Browning, Chris Lucius

atHletic trainer:

Jeremey Dorrough

coacH SpeaK

“We have a lot of guys on offense that have the ability to do special things with the ball in their hands. I can think of six guys that need the football and need opportunities.” - Brandon Cherry