Harley Day (86) runs with the ball after making a catch on a pass thrown by Anthony Padovano to score a touchdown. Day scored the only offensive touchdown of the night for the Wildcats during their loss at Pleasant.
(Photo submitted)
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Every football schedule has its share of tough battles and every battle has a winner and a loser.
On Friday, the Wildcats of North Union played one of those tough battles and came out on the losing side of the scoreboard, 35-13, to Pleasant.
Both teams brought high standings in Division V, Region 18 into the game.
The Spartans were in a tie for third, while the Wildcats were ranked fifth.
Both teams brought the top two running backs in the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference to the field. North Union’s Trevor Moran was ranked first, while Pleasant’s Patrick Blubaugh was second.
The similarities were plentiful and the opening quarter reflected those similarities on the scoreboard.
The Spartans took their opening drive in on a 35-yard run by Blubaugh to give them the quick touchdown. A successful two-point conversion gave Pleasant an early 8-0 lead.
The Wildcats didn’t hesitate to score and on the ensuing kickoff, Carson Smith returnedthe ball 83 yards for a TD to get the Cats right back in the mix.
A failed two-point conversion left the lead in the hands of the Spartans.
The differences started to rear their head little by little.
Both teams exchanged the ball – the Spartans on a punt and NU on an interception,
That turnover led to a Pleasant touchdown by Bryce Lowry. Zane Dine put the ball through the uprights to give the Spartans a 15-6 lead.
The Wildcats had trouble running the ball, which in turn forced them to pass.
That led to another interception by the Spartans to put the Wildcat offense on the sideline.
NU head coach Nick Hajjar said it was just one of those days for his players.
“I think some times you have days you have it going and other days you don’t,” he said. “Any of the plays we did have, there was a penalty or something that got us back off schedule.
“It was just one of those nights,” he said. “Kudos to them, but the big thing was we just couldn’t get the run game going.”
The interception led to another Spartan touchdown, this time by Avery Wolfe from six yards out. Dine put another one through the pipes to give Pleasant a 21-6 lead.
NU’s run game saw a little revival, working its way to midfield with the help of Moran.
The Spartans, though, caught on and plugged holes to stall the Cats’ drive.
Hajjar said the Spartans’ ability to move around on the line kept North Union off guard.
“They move around up front and you have to get a bead on it,” he said. “At times we did and at times we didn’t and they posed some challenges.
“They were bringing some of their inside backers a little more than they have up until this point and they did a good job of hitting some of the right gaps and making some plays.”
When the run game slowed ,the Cats switched to Anthony Padovano’s arm. The NU QB threw a strike over the middle of the field to hit Harley Day. Day fought his way 15 yards into the end zone to give the Wildcats their second TD of the night. Padovano added the PAT to put the game at 21-13 were it would stay through halftime.
Hajjar said the Wildcats’ ability to score on offense came from good game preparation.
“We knew coming into the game we weren’t going to be able to line up in double tight the entire night and run the football,” he said. “We knew we were going to have to throw the football some.
“At times we were OK with that and at other times the defensive pressure got to us and that is football.”
The third quarter saw both teams duking it out on defense with neither side budging until the waning seconds of the set.
The Spartans made a push to midfield before the final stanza started and 10 seconds into the fourth, Lowry made his second trip to the end zone on a 58-yard sprint. Ethan Warner put the ball through the goal post for a 28-13 lead with 11:50 left in the game.
Padovano threw his third pick of the night to end North Union’s next series.
However, the defense kept the Cats in the game when Carsen Newell came up with his fifth pick of the season on the goal line. Newell returned the ball to the 35-yard line before being pushed out of bounds.
The Wildcats, who were feeling the pressure of the clock, pushed their passing game. However, they had trouble connecting and a fourth down sack resulted in the Spartans taking the ball over deep in NU territory.
Hajjar said offense was hard to come by for the Wildcats.
“We did some things wrong in the passing game, but we just couldn’t get the run game going,” he said. “You have to keep battling each play and they made more plays than we did.”
Blubaugh put the final nail in the coffin with a nine-yard run for his second touchdown. Warner put anther shot through the post to give Pleasant a 35-13 lead with only 6:34 left in the game.
The Wildcats made a final push, but came up short on fourth down.
Pleasant then ran out the clock to win.
Hajjar said there is plenty of football still to play this season, but it will be tough moving forward.
“It is not going to be easy,” he said. “After another tough loss very similar to Clear Fork, we’ve got another good opponent (Marion Harding) coming to our place next week and that is the challenge of sports is to try and get better.”