Quinnon Isom begins his 2nd year at Union County with what he describes as a “complete buy-in” by the Yellow Jackets after recent struggles have plagued them. Six wins total in the last four years isn’t good enough for Coach Isom, and he has challenged the players and they have responded with a great spring/summer he says.
Last season the Jackets went 2-8. They started with three straight losses to Newberry, Fairfield Central and York before Union County beat Blacksburg in one of the craziest finishes, coming back from down 18 points in the last 2 minutes of the game. They finished the non-region schedule with a loss to Chester and a canceled game against Clinton due to Hurricane Helene. The region schedule started with a win against Broome, the first region win since 2021, and ended with three straight losses to Chapman, Woodruff, and Mountain View Prep. Their season ended at Crescent in the first round of the playoffs, their first playoff berth since 2019.
Union County lost a number of seniors including North-South selection Josh Rice-Brandon, but according to Isom they return a lot of players who have seen a lot of playing time. The offense will be led by senior quarterback Qa Brannon, who according to Isom has grown a lot this off season going into his second season leading the Jackets. Senior tailback Dreshawn Mills will look to build on a very good junior year and is described as a “swiss army knife” by his coaches. Senior Akeem Shaw will look to fill Rice-Brandon’s shoes and all coaches have spoken very highly of him this off-season. Isom says they will use a lot of two tight-end sets and will break in two new players at that position. Senior Hayden Lawson will move over from quarterback, and Levi Gentry will move over from the offensive line after losing weight and both will be big pieces for the Jackets this season. Isom says the offensive line is the most improved position from last season, they are bringing everyone back from last season and have added Freshman Lodon Veal. Veal starts his high school career at 6’3 280 pounds, and has already garnered interest from some D1 programs after a great summer camp circuit. Other names you will hear from the Jackets this fall are Zion Taylor-Jenkins (JR WR), LJ Bates (SR RB) and Shiro Crosby (SO RB).
On the defensive side of the ball Coach Isom said this group is really athletic and very confident. The anchor of the defense this season will be senior Jaylen Davis, who was a major contributor for Union County last season on the defensive line. Also on the defensive line is Jayden Chick, a senior who was an all region selection as a junior, and Levi Gentry. Sophomore Noah Tucker, who was an all region safety last season will move down to an outside linebacker along with junior Jemarius Smith. Inside linebackers will be junior Jamoree McBride and senior Reid McDade (all region selection). Coach Isom says their defensive backfield is really young but have already shown a lot of promise through this summer. Sophomores Oscar Rice, Deandre Beechum, Mark Mitchell and freshman Mikaih Kershaw will be the rotation at corner back, as they look to get them all playing time as younger players. Sophomore King Henderson and junior Kam Fincher will be starting safeties for Union County. Sophomore Tyre Hill is also expected to contribute on defense under 1st year defensive coordinator Jared Davis.
Coach Isom said that longtime football coach Jon Langenfeld is now the strength and conditioning coach and wrestling coach, and according to Isom has been integral in developing the student-athletes in Union County. Isom said the team mantra is “do your job” and he reminds them every day the words of NBA Legend Kobe Bryant “jobs not finished”.
Union County 2025 Schedule
8/22 Newberry (Home)
8/29 Fairfield Central (Away)
9/5 York (Away)
9/12 Blacksburg(Home)
9/19 Chester (Away)
9/26 Clinton (Home)
10/3 Mountain View Prep (Away)*
10/10 Broome (Home)*
10/17 Chapman(Away)*
10/24 OFF
10/31 Woodruff (Home) *
*Region Game
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