Trevyn Feasel (3) of North Union cuts back to the inside of the field to avoid several Graham defenders. The Wildcats will go the road in Week 8 against a 4-3 Northwestern team. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
North Union’s football squad has clawed its way to the top of the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division with a 2-0 record.
The Wildcats sit at the top along with Springfield Northwestern, this week’s road opponent.
A victory over the Warriors could seal the divison title for NU during its first year in the conference.
North Union head coach Nick Hajjar said it isn’t hard to see the writing on the wall.
“It is not hard to see that there are only two teams unbeaten in the Mad River Division,” he said. “We are both 2-0 and what we are focused on is week three of conference play and that is Northwestern.”
The Wildcats’ focus will have to be on one “dynamic” player for the Warriors, Ben VanNoord.
He had a stellar week for the Warriors during their 20-14 win over Indian Lake.
VanNoord rushed for more than 200 yards and scored all three of Northwestern’s touchdowns.
In fact, VanNoord has been such a big part of the Warriors’ offense, he has scored 17 of their 22 touchdowns and sits as the third-best running back in the CBC with 827 yards.
Hajjar said Northwestern is going to use him, but it is just a matter of stopping him.
“At the end of the day, the ball is going to get in (VanNoord’s) hands,” he said. “It is not like people who have played them didn’t know that he wasn’t going to touch it. He is that fast and being 190 pounds he isn’t easy to bring down.”
Some of VanNoord’s success also is credited to an extremely big offensive line. The Warriors have eight different upperclass linemen who tip the scales in the upper 200’s.
Hajjar said there are no secrets to what his defense is going to face this week.
It will just come down to his linemen doing what needs to be done.
“In the Mad River side, this is by far the biggest line we will face” he said. “Our guys have to sit down in their stance.
“They have to play lower, harder and longer. They’ve got to be more physical.”
Behind the Warriors’ line is quarterback Gavin Thomas.
He is Northwestern’s second-best rusher with 288 yards and has tossed for 628 yards and eight TDs.
Hajjar said 90 percent of the Warriors’ offense will come from the running back-quarterback combination.
“They do a really good job of getting the ball to their playmakers in a bunch of different ways,” he said. “We are going to have to challenge them on defense.”
The Wildcats will have to rely on their offensive playmakers to get past some of the Warriors’ linemen who are also on the defensive side of the ball.
“Some of those same guys who play on the O-line play are on defense,” he said. “They are big-bodied and hard to move, so it is going to be a challenge in the trenches.”
The Wildcats, though, have been able to re-invigorate their run game the past few weeks.
Trevor Moran leads the team and is the fifth-best back in the CBC with 783 yards. He tallied 351 of those yards in the last two games.
Trevyn Feasel has also found recent success, averaging 6.2 yards per carry and finding the end zone three times.
Hajjar, though, said there is always room for improvement as the Cats look to win their third consecutive game.
“There is never a time to stop getting better and I think late in the season people can lose focus,” he said. “We just challenge our kids to get better. I don’t care how much of the season is left or of your football career, just continue to get better.”