Preston Crabtree (22) of North Union attempts to escape a Benjamin Logan tackler during last week’s final regular season game. Crabtree tallied 97 yards through the air during the Cats’ 42-7 win. (Photo submitted)
The North Union football team is trying to do something it hasn’t done since 2013… win a playoff game.
The Wildcats (4-2) will open their post-season as the eighth-seeded team in Division V, Region 18 against the 25th seeded Fostoria on Saturday.
The game will kickoff at NU at 7 p.m.
The Redmen have had a tough season in the Northern Buckeye Conference going 0-6.
NU coach Nick Hajjar said this is a year of deceiving records.
“They play in a really good league, “he said. “Don’t let their record deceive you. They are a talented team.”
That talent comes mostly from the skill positions.
Of the 40-man roster, the Redmen have 11 seniors, with the majority of them filling in the quarterback, wide receiver or running backs roles.
Senior quarterback Dominque Settles is a threat the Wildcats will have to keep in their sights.
The Redmen are a pass heavy team, but Settles can also run the ball.
“Settles is a true dual-threat QB,” Hajjar said. “He is fast, elusive and can really throw the ball.”
During Fostoria’s last regular season game against Ostego, Settles went 13-27 for 326 yards and three touchdowns.
Those TD’s all landed in the arms of wide receiver Dion Springer.
He tallied four receptions for 229 yards.
Hajjar, though, said the Redmen have a core of wide outs.
Elijah Miller snagged three passes for 59 yards, while E.J. Miller also caught three passes for 22 yards last week.
The pass game is something the Wildcats have seen this year and Hajjar said his team will be prepared.
“There is a lot of carry over,” he said. “It is more about how the defense gets to the end results.”
When Fostoria does run the ball, it likes to hand it to either Xavier Ferguson or Julius Robinson.
Ferguson tallied 33 yards on 11 carries last week during the Redmen’s 47-18 loss.
The Wildcats are going into the playoff game on the back of 42-7 win against Benjamin Logan.
NU kept the offense balanced by tallying 145 yards through the air and 182 yards on the ground.
Hajjar said his team isn’t going to change anything going into the playoffs.
“We are who we are,” he said. “The last three weeks, the offense has really turned around for us.”
Now, everything is on the line for the Cats as they try and become only the third team in NU football history to win a playoff game.
As for how they got into the playoffs, Hajjar said it is all the same.
“Playoffs are playoffs,” he added. “You either win and move on or go home. We are just excited to be able to play at home once again.”