North Union’s football team is pictured from left, front row, Ethan Mouser, Kane Beltz, Jaxson Harrah, Hezekiah Hudson, Harley Day, Alec O’Reilly, Luke Dunn and Jacob Florio; second row, Steven Palm, Tyler Fout, Derrick Alltop, Drew Wykoff, Aubrion Garcia, Liam Adams, Gabe Hansen, Silas Wilson and Derrick Mosley; third row, John Allinder, Walter Robinson, Zaiden Chapman, Lincoln Harrah, Josston Broderick, Trevor Gilbert, Isaiah Radcliff and Trey Bossaller; fourth row, Kam Apt, Evan Juzwiak, Gage Johnson, Trevyn Feasel, Trevor Moran, Evan Hoffer, Tuker Wedding, Ricky Weigand and Spencer Parish; fifth row, Perry Thompson, Corbin Stanley, Chaz Reeder, Owen Davis, Preston Crabtree, Grayson Beeney, Ethan Young and Dave Duncan; sixth row, Shan Swank, Kyle Daley, Zach Millard, Jeremiah Pickens, Dalton Wilson, Preston Wood and Koldon Wiley; seventh row, coaches Zac Hamilton, Mike Adams Andy Owens, head coach Nick Hajjar, coach Tony Hajjar and coach Josh Sowder. See North Union team photos at www.marysvillejt.com.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
The North Union Wildcat football squad has a knack for winning ball games.
With a 7-3 record last year, the Wildcats rode the bubble in hopes of a playoff birth and came up just shy in the end.
With the new school year, it is a new season, a new record and this year, a new league.
North Union has made the transition from the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference to the Central Buckeye Conference over the past year and the gridiron group is the last of the Wildcat teams to make the leap.
With North Union being the new kid on the block in the Mad River Division of the CBC, head coach Nick Hajjar said the unknown will be its biggest hurdle this season.
“You get used to playing the same league schedule year in and year out,” he said. “You get used to the team tendencies and how they like to do things.
“That is going to be one of the things that we as a staff and program are going to have to learn on the fly.”
The new league, however, isn’t the only thing new for NU.
North Union had a large graduating class last year that played both ways since its sophomore season.
One of those 2018 seniors was quarterback-punter Anthony Padovano.
He controlled the ball for the Cats for the previous two season and is now being replaced by Preston Crabtree.
Crabtree played at wide out and cornerback for NU last season as a sophomore, but does have quarterback experience.
“For him to take 50-60 snaps a game at QB, it is going to be the first time he has done that since junior high,” said Hajjar. “He was the quarterback in seventh and eighth grade.
“He had played QB his whole career, but we just had Anthony in front of him,” said the coach. “He filled a role elsewhere.”
The other big loss for NU is in the offensive line. Four of last year’s starters graduated, but the coaching staff has found some replacements to fill those voids.
“We have some guys who have stepped up and had some really good off-seasons,” Hajjar said. “They are big, they are strong and they can move.
“Now, it is about seeing the different looks,” he said. “A lot of them are juniors and seniors, but they are still raw because they are first-year offensive linemen on Friday nights. We are working through that.”
Working through those holes created by the linemen will be a well-experienced backfield.
The Cats have a league-leading running back in Trevor Moran returning to the team, plus the dual threat Trevyn Feasel.
Helping out in the backfield will be senior Jaxson Harrah, along with a long list of running backs that Hajjar has in his stable.
“A lot of our backfield returns and that is something that is a main stay from last year,” he said. “Right now, we’re trying to get the timing of the guys up front to mix with the experience of the guys in the backfield.”
The Wildcats will be looking to a mix of previous and new talent to help them stop their opponents on defense.
The Wildcats will stack the line with Luke Dunn, who is returning from last year, along with Hez Hudson, who will step up from a back-up to a full time linemen.
Zac Millard will return along with Koldan Wiley, who will play on both sides of the ball.
Kane Beltz and Jaxson Harrah will close up the gaps at linebacker.
Hajjar said he will field a team that is upper class-heavy, but will use some sophomores to help fill gaps in the lineup.
Throughout preseason, there were a few surprises for the NU coaching staff.
“Ricky Weigand is one who has emerged as a kicker,” Hajjar said. “He has done a great job.”
The Cats, though, are still trying to figure out what to do about certain lineup losses.
“We lost Anthony as an all-state punter,” Hajjar said. “That is the other area we are still trying to figure out. We’ve got a couple of guys battling right now.”
The season will open for the Wildcats at Fairbanks on Friday.