North Union quarterback Preston Crabtree is tackled by Fairbanks’ Brogan Green, while Trey Good (9) of FHS comes into assist on the play. The North Union player to the right was not identified. The Wildcats beat the Panthers, 53-20.
(Photo submitted)
The North Union Wildcats broke open a tight halftime score and had no real trouble during the second half en route to a 53-20 victory over Fairbanks to begin the 2019 football regular season on Friday.
“It was a battle (in the first half),” said North Union head coach Nick Hajjar. “It’s the first game of the year, it’s a county rivalry and we beat a good football team tonight.”
“It was a tale of two halves,” said Panther boss Patrick Cotter. “I thought we ran the ball well during the first half and Braxton (quarterback Wilhelm) commanded our offense well.
“Our offensive line did some good work, so there were a lot of positives,” he said.
“We’ve just got to clean up some things, such as closing defensive gaps.
Under Hajjar’s tutelage, the Wildcats have been a methodical offensive team with the Wing T.
There were indeed times that NU controlled the clock with long drives, but there were also a couple of big plays in which the Cats exploited those gaps to score.
One of those long drives came after the opening kickoff when the Wildcats wiped six minutes off the clock.
They started at their own 28-yard-line and featured the bruising running skills of Trevor Moran and Trevyn Feasel.
NU scored on the drive despite being whistled for holding a couple of times.
North Union appeared to stall at the FHS 34, facing fourth-and-23.
At that point, Wildcat quarterback Preston Crabtree hit Feasel with a touchdown pass.
The two-point conversion failed, leaving NU up, 6-0.
That was the only score of the opening period, as the two teams traded punts as play moved into the ensuing quarter.
North Union’s running game softened up Fairbanks for another scoring strike between Crabtree and Feasel.
This time, the aerial covered 30 yards into the end zone.
Crabtree attempted the two-point conversion, but Fairbanks’ Braylon Green put the QB to the ground, leaving the score 12-0.
Fairbanks put its first points of the season on the board during its next series.
Wilhelm found Braeden Fairchild for a pass down to the NU 21.
Riordin Stauffer went into the North Union line and got down to the 10.
The Wildcats were called for encroachment, which gave Fairbanks a first down.
Mason Cushman carried the ball across the line.
Cade Ziegler booted the extra point, narrowing the Panthers’ deficit to 12-7.
North Union did not take much time off the clock before once again crossing the end line.
Crabtree went to the air twice to Feasel as the Cats moved down to the FHS 35.
From there, the QB connected with Harley Day on a pass that made the score 18-7 with 56 seconds left in the half.
Kicker Ricky Weigand gave the visitors a 19-7 margin with the extra point.
The Panthers, though, refused to fold.
On the second play of a brief series, Wilhelm rifled a 68-yard scoring strike to Cushman.
Ziegler booted the extra point, pulling the Panthers to within 19-14 at halftime.
“Fairbanks had some momentum going into the half,” said Hajjar, “and we always say the first possession for each team to start the second half is very important.”
The Wildcats held FHS to a three-and-out to begin the third quarter.
Moran then did most of the ground damage against the Panther defense, capping an eight-play drive with a six-yard touchdown run.
The two-point conversion failed, but the Cats went on top, 25-14.
At that point, things began to unravel for the Panthers.
They were forced to punt and then could not catch up with Feasel as he raced through FHS gaps for a 75-yard scoring jaunt.
The two-point conversion failed, but all of the sudden, the Panthers were looking down the barrel of a 31-14 deficit.
Moran later added a 48-yard scoring run.
Weigand’s extra point sent NU into the final quarter with a 38-14 advantage.
Moran added additional yardage to his resume with a 52-yard touchdown run.
Feasel connected with Grayson Beeney on a pass for the two-point conversion as North Union went on top 46-14.
With a lead of more than 30 points, the running clock rule was enforced with 10:39 left in the game.
Regular time resumed when Fairbanks scored on a one-yard run by Stauffer.
The extra point failed, but FHS had pulled to within less than 30.
North Union tallied its final touchdown with a little more than three minutes left to play.
Moran finished off his evening with an eight-yard TD run.
Weigand booted the extra point to conclude the scoring.
The Wildcats racked up 585 yards of total offense, while the Panthers finished with 307.
Moran rushed for 208 yards on 20 carries, while Feasel tallied 174 on 10 carries.
North Union will open the home portion of its schedule on Friday by hosting Colonel Crawford.
The Panthers will go on the road to Indian Lake on Friday.