Lincoln Harrah of North Union works his through Blanchester’s defense Friday. Harrah had 152 yards of total offense and tallied a pair of touchdowns, one on the ground and another through the air. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
It may not be the game North Union wanted against Blanchester, but it was an outcome coach Nick Hajjar liked.
The Wildcats tallied 400 yards of total offense and put 40 points on the board in only two quarters.
A lightning delay at halftime pushed the start of the third quarter back. Eventually the persistent lightning ended the game at the half after both teams agreed to call it a complete contest with a score of 40-0.
Hajjar was a little disappointed his team didn’t get to play a full four quarters but agreed with the call to end the game early.
“I have been in football for a long time and I don’t remember having one of these (shortened game) in the regular season,” he said. “Tonight with the way the weather was and the amount of delays there were, it was the right call for both teams.”
In the time the Wildcats did have with the ball, they were the embodiment of efficient.
On the opening kick-off, Evan Hoffer took the ball 85 yards to give the Cats a 6-0 lead with only five ticks off the clock.
Ricky Weigand converted the point after attempt to make it a 7-0 game.
North Union continued to steamroll Blanchester after getting the ball back after a three-and-out.
Eight plays later, NU scored its second touchdown when Ethan Young ran around the end to the pylon from eight yards out.
Weigand added a point with a successful kick to make it a 14-0 ball game.
The Wildcat defense made short work of Blanchester’s offense by forcing another punt after three quick plays.
The North Union offense returned the favor, only needing a single play to score.
Lincoln Harrah picked his way through the Blanchester defense and with a capacity crowd in full roar, Harrah found some open space for a 56-yard TD.
Hajjar said having a full stadium is what high school football is about, so it was good to see his team give the fans a great performance.
“We felt like we had a good game plan going into tonight,” he said. “The kids executed it really well. It was the first game at home and the community came out with great support.
“It was awesome to be back at home with a full crowd. The kids did a great job playing at a high level.”
Weigand missed his point after attempt to bring the score to 20-0.
Blanchester, which tallied only 18 yards of total offense in the two quarters of play, only got past the first-down marker once and it was thanks to a North Union flag.
The infraction didn’t hurt the Cats in the end and the clean play is something Hajjar said he was glad to see the team improve from last week.
“We talked about being cleaner this week and I felt like we did that,” he said. “Penalties were down.”
With the Wildcats clearly dominating the ground game Hajjar wanted to test his new quarterback, Cayden Lassiter.
The signal-caller didn’t disappoint as he linked up with Josston Broderick on his second pass of the game for a 19-yard TD.
Weigand picked up the PAT to give NU a 27-0 lead, which the Cats took into the second quarter.
Hajjar said he wanted to push his offense to be more balanced this week after only throwing the ball three times against Pleasant.
“We had more balance… we ran the ball well and we threw the ball some more tonight and were efficient with it,” Hajjar said. “We wanted to make a point to throw the ball tonight, we just really haven’t had to, but we needed to.”
In the second quarter Broderick made a return trip to the end zone on a 78-yard run.
Lassiter had one more pass for the night, this time linking up with Harrah for a 65-yard TD. Weigand
went one-for-two on the final two PATs as the Wildcats completed their shut out.
“We had guys stepped up tonight,” Hajjar said. “We had some guys banged up and that is a huge quality in a great team and when their number was called they answered. I’m proud of those guys and the rest of the team.”
North Union will play at Danville Friday.
North Union quarterback Cayden Lassiter pitches the ball back to Ethan Young during Friday’s home game against Blanchester. The Wildcats improved their record to 2-0 with a 40-0 victory. The game was declared official after two quarters due to inclement weather. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)