The 2018 North Union Wildcat football team is pictured from left, front row, Kase Orahood, Hunter Zimmerman, Dalton Rowland, Colton Clark, Carsen Newell, Chris Wislon, Dylan Thompson, Joey Blair, Ashden Turrill and Logan Stephens; second row, Kyle Daley, Anthony Padovano, Ethen Hoffer, Harley Day, Jacob Florio, Jaxson Harrah, Kane Beltz, Trevor Moran, Preston Crabtree and Luke Dunn; third row, Connor Wood, Ethan Mouser, Carson Smith, Trevyn Feasel, Koldan Wiley, Isaiah Radcliff, Chaz Reeder, Jeremiah Brill, Hudson Davis, Caleb Isler and Gabe Payne; fourth row, Peery Thompson, Drew Wykoff, Zach Millard, Malachi Robbins, Richy Weigand, Colton Cook, Trevor Gilbert, Evan Hoffer, Ethan Young and Grayson Beeney; fifth row, Steven Palm, Corbin Stanley, Jeremiah Pickens, Phoenix Davies, Josston Broderick Shan Swank, Gage Johnson, Spencer Parish and Gabriel Hansen-Jackson; sixth row, coach Zac Hamilton, coach Andy Ourens, head coach Nick Hajjar, coach Mike Adams and coach Josh Sonde.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
––––
A new football season has arrived and the Wildcats of North Union have high hopes for their last year in the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference.
NU has been a part of the MOAC for the past 20-plus years with rivalries that started almost right away.
For head coach Nick Hajjar, the last year in the conference doesn’t mean a lot on the surface until you think about it being the last time you might play one of those long- time rivals.
“I think it is kind of another season,” said Hajjar. “There are those rivalries that I don’t think you think about much going into it, but when it is all over that could be it. At the end of the day, it is the opponent on our schedule that we have to figure out of which how to get the better.”
To get the better of the teams on this year’s schedule, Hajjar’s approach is fairly straightforward… get better.
“For us it is about getting better every single day,” he said. “It’s trying to become the best version of us that we can.
“What that looks like, I don’t know, I don’t have a vision for that,” said the coach. “
I know we are not there yet. We’ve got to continue to work towards that and the guys are doing a good job of that right now.”
In order to reach the goal of becoming the best version of themselves, Hajjar will lean on his crew of seniors. The Wildcats will have 12 seniors on the field.
The majority of them will compose the offensive line, along seasoned quarterback, Anthony Padovano.
“We’ve got a lot of older guys,” said Hajjar. “There are a lot of seniors who have bought into the program and ever since that no-contact period was over, we have had meetings in the offseason to talk about what we want this season, what we want to look like and what we need to do to get there.”
Under Hajjar, the Wildcats have been a predominately running program on offense. However, with the level of experience on this year’s unit, he hopes to throw the ball more to help balance his offense.
“We’ve got four seniors up front who are all returning starters,” he said. “We’ve got some special kids in the backfield and a senior quarterback.
Hopefully with that mix, it will give us the opportunity to throw the ball a little more and give us some more balance.”
Experience is something that doesn’t always come along for the Wildcats. In the past. North Union has filled in the holes with a lot of underclassmen.
This year will look different, according to Hajjar, with the majority of the team filled with upperclassmen.
“I think if you look at the program you are going to see a lot of juniors and seniors and that hasn’t always been the case in past years,” he said. “There have been gaps filled in with talented sophomores, but you are going to see a lot of upper classmen who have won some games and lost some close ones.”
That brings the topic to the 2017 season.
The Wildcats finished with a 4-6 record and only lost two games – Pleasant and Clear Fork – with a score greater than one possession.
North Union is used to close battles, according to Hajjar.
That will be the difference between last year and 2018, if North Union can clean up the game in the fourth quarter.
“We were in the mix last year,” said Hajjar. “It is just how we finished.
“We have to be better finishers when there are those close games in the fourth quarter.
“Hopefully we can learn from last year.”
The Wildcats will square off against Fairbanks in Week 1, a team that is no slouch, according to Hajjar.
“They are coming off a good year,” he said. “We know it is going to be a big challenge.”