Fairbanks’ Tyler Beem (8) is tackled after making a catch during last year’s game against West Liberty-Salem. The Panthers will open the 2018 season tonight at North Union.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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The battle of Union County is about to commence. The Fairbanks Panthers will make the quick trip north to Richwood tonight to take on the North Union Wildcats in the season opener of Friday night high school football. Game time tonight is at 7 p.m.
The two teams are familiar opponents as they played only two years ago when the game was a tight battle decided by a three-point win for NU.
Fairbanks head coach Patrick Cotter said this year his keys to success will help his Panthers take back the title.
“We’ve got to control both lines of scrimmage,” he said. “If we can do that, then that will allow our offense to have a great game.”
Even with the home field advantage, North Union head coach Nick Hajjar is not taking Fairbanks lightly.
“They have a really good football team,” he said. “They are coming off a good year. They’ve got some momentum going into this year, with a lot of seniors back and a lot of underclassmen who are really talented as well. We know it is going to be a big challenge.”
Both teams will bring their own flavor of offense to the field.
Fairbanks runs more of a spread-style offense that will utilize a strong quarterback to help run the offense.
The Wildcats will show the Panthers a more traditional running game out of the Wing T. However, they will use options to throw off the defense. This variety is what makes football fun, according to Hajjar.
“We are going to do what we do and they are going to do what they do and that is the beauty about football,” he said. “They do a great job and I think it is just going to be two different mindsets to the game that makes football fun.
“We just have to see which mindset wins out.”
The misdirection of the Wing T is something the Panthers have been preparing for all season.
“They (the Wildcats) are gap sound with a lot of misdirection,” said Cotter. “They are ready to attack and no matter how much film you watch, they are going to throw in a wrinkle to try and confuse you.”
To try and capitalize on that confusion in the back field will be Anthony Padovano taking the snaps. The Wildcats will have a variety of rushers to choose from to carry the ball.
“They are a physical team with a strong offensive and defensive lines that has some athletes in the backfield,” said Cotter. “They have some high-level contributors.”
The Panthers, on the other hand, are currently in limbo with their starting quarterback. Jacob Nicol was the starter throughout the preseason, but an injury puts him on a ‘game time decision’ list. Taking the snaps in his stead will be Braxton Wilhem. He will have plenty of options to choose from in the spread with enough experience to go around.
“This year we only have one kid that did not start under the ‘Friday Night Lights’ last season,” Cotter said.
With all of this experience, the Wildcats have been trying to prepare with game-like speed, but is something that’s hard achieve.
“You can never simulate game one speed,” he said. “You get some of that in your jamboree, but you can’t simulate that factor when it counts. It is just different.”
With both teams from the local area, both coaches expect the fan attendance to be high and the atmosphere to be intense.
“It is a Union County rivalry and we expect a really good atmosphere,” said Hajjar. “It is going to be what high school football is all about.”
Cotter echoed that statement.
“There will be great interest on both sides,” he said. “It should be a really good game with two really good teams.”