RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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RICHWOOD — The Wildcats hadn't beaten their old rival Pleasant in a football season opener over the previous three seasons, so the countdown was literally on for North Union.
"A rivalry game at home, we’ve talked about it all summer. It’s been on our board. It’s been on our countdown clock," North Union coach Nick Hajjar said. "It’s important to the start of our season. For the last three years we’ve had to dig ourselves out of a hole after losing this first game. With the the schedule we still have coming, this was so important for us in a bunch of different aspects to start the season in a right way."
North Union dominated in all phases, beating Pleasant 49-7. Both NU and the Spartans were charter members of the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference dating back to 1990, and Hajjar was a Pleasant All-Ohioan and state champion.
"Great atmosphere for Game 1. Beautiful night. Our community showed out. Our student section was awesome. The band was great. This is what high school football is all about, and I’m so glad we could come out on top tonight," Hajjar said.
North Union makes early statement
An interception by Madden Queen ended North Union's opening drive after three plays, but the Wildcats got it right back with an exclamation point when Kadrin Riffle recovered a fumble and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown two minutes into the game.
Pleasant answered back with a drive into the red zone that was stopped a yard short of a first down on fourth-and-4 at the 12. What followed was a 91-yard drive that was capped by a North Union 11-yard touchdown pass from Nickolas Hajjar to Broden O'Reilly and a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
"It’s a real good football team. And credit to them, they came out and from the first play they never looked back," Pledasant coach Jake Schaefer said.
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The Wildcats continue to stretch the lead
Following a Pleasant 3-and-out, NU again rattled off a long drive of 13 plays that Hajjar finished with a 16-yard scramble. The Wildcats scored again on their fourth possession when Wyatt Arver dove in for a 5-yard TD run.
Pleasant's offense came alive late in the first half when Weston Shaffer hooked up with Brody Ringer on a third-down shovel pass and a third-and-long catch down the sideline. A Shaffer keeper gave them life in the red zone as the seconds ticked away. Finally, they got on the board with no time left when Ringer hauled in an 18-yard pass over the middle from Shaffer for a touchdown.
The Wildcats spoiled any Pleasant hopes for a second-half comeback when they forced the Spartans into another 3-and-out followed by a botched punt to start the third quarter. That set up Brycen Delawder for a 26-yard scoring run. A few minutes later, Hajjar scored again on an 11-yard keeper to turn on the running clock with a 42-7 lead.
North Union's final score came on a 35-yard interception return by Arver to end the third quarter.
The loss spoiled the debut of Shaefer as Pleasant's head coach, but he saw mistakes that can be corrected.
"Our message was we beat ourselves pretty often. Turnovers on offense, a couple of third down conversions that we hit for big plays got called back because of penalties, guys not checking if they are on the ball and five guys in the backfield," Shaefer said. "The message was that if we can clean up our part, it’s a much closer football game in the fourth quarter and now we’re competing to tie it up or to win and things of that nature."
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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Rivals meet again with Pleasant going to North Union during Week 1
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