One week after suffering its first loss of the season, the North Union football team got back on the winning track.
The Wildcats are looking to keep it moving down the line on Friday as they travel to Benjamin Logan for a Central Buckeye Conference contest.
It is their final road trip as they finish the final three weeks of the regular season at home.
Following its loss two weeks ago to Jonathan Alder, North Union picked up a 42-0 win over Northwestern, scoring 21 points in each of the first two quarters.
“I was concerned the previous week would affect the next week,” NU head coach Nick Hajjar said. “We were able to start fast and get back on track.”
Owen Davis led the way against Northwestern, scoring five touchdowns, four by rushing and a fifth on an interception return. He finished with 204 yards rushing on just 12 carries. He is now sixth in the league in rushing yards with 612.
Benjamin Logan (2-4 overall, 0-1 CBC), could not more opposite on offense than North Union.
While the Wildcats (5-1, 1-0) are among the best in the CBC with the running game, the Raiders’ strength comes with the air.
For the season, North Union has totaled 1,580 yards on the ground, compared to 284 for Benjamin Logan.
Led by quarterback Kam Allen, the Raiders have the top aerial attack with 1,741 yards. The Wildcats have earned 331 yards through the air.
“They are a spread football team and they will challenge us with their formations,” Hajjar said. “We will definitely have to be sound on defense.”
Allen has completed 62.5 % of his passes (125 out of 200) and has 11 touchdowns with eight interceptions.
Alec Rodenberger (56 catches, 608 yards) and Sam Witten (31-557) are his two main targets.
They are ranked first and second in the league in yards receiving.
Benjamin Logan won its first two games of the season, but has followed with four straight defeats, giving up more than 40 points per game.
“They mix it up on defense and we have to be ready for different looks,” Hajjar said.
A big help this week will be most of those NU athletes who have missed games because of injuries will be back in action.
“It will be good to have those guys back,” Hajjar said. “But the players who took their place have handled the-next-guy-up well. They were getting reps at the varsity level.”
Whatever the Raiders have in store for the Wildcats, Hajjar expects little difference on what his team will have to do on Friday night to get a victory.
“We have to execute what we do best,” Hajjar said.