North Union, Carlisle go to the final moment in the OHSAA regional football semifinal
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CARLISLE — North Union kept its season alive, overcoming four lead changes to forge a late come-from-behind 40-36 regional semifinal football victory Nov. 14 against No. 5 seed Carlisle.
The No. 8 seeded Wildcats in Division V, Region 20 trailed 36-33 in the fourth quarter and looked like they might fall behind by two scores when Kadrin Riffle stripped Carlisle’s Luke Richards after his 20-yard catch had them inside the 5.
“In the last quarter I just started playing a lot better,” Riffle said. “I had the whole season on the line, and I didn’t want to let down the seniors.”
Instead, North Union took over at the 7, then went 18 plays over the next 6:18 to win the game on Nick VanHoose’s 1-yard run with 91 seconds left.
“We knew it was going to take all four quarters, and I’ll be darn, it came down to the last second,” NU coach Nick Hajjar said. “We fought through some adversity of big play after big play, a turnover, maybe a call here or there, injury, but guys stepped up and were able to get it done.”
North Union (9-4) will now face Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division rival Indiana Lake Nov. 21 for a regional championship at a site to be determined Sunday, Nov. 16. Indian Lake beat North Union 17-14 in the regular season during Week 6. The Lakers beat No. 11 Mariemont 31-14 in the other regional semi game in Region 20. This is North Union’s first-ever trip to the regional finals in football.
NU quarterback Nickolas Hajjar was 10-for-13 passing for 227 yards, connecting on an 85-yarder with Griffin Osborne for a touchdown and two key 40-plus yard throws to Osborne and Wyatt Arver on third-and-longs to preserve scoring drives. Osborne made five catches for 134 yards and Arver had four for 79.
VanHoose had three rushing touchdowns and 147 yards on 29 carries, while Hajjar scored twice on keepers, ending with 58 rushing yards on 11 carries.
R.J. Hillyard led the defense with 11 tackles, while Trenor Kyte had nine with five solos for the Wildcats. Arver intercepted a pass and Riffle had the key strip fumble.
For Carlisle (10-3), Alex Collins ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns, while QB Kolby Morgerson was 10-for-15 passing for 150 yards. He hit Ashton Pelfrey for a 53-yard bomb on the first play of the game for a TD. He also connected with Drew Conger for a 39-yard TD to take the 36-33 lead with 24 seconds left in the third quarter.
“We didn’t quit. That’s been the biggest thing that has grown with us over the year, not quitting,” Coach Hajjar said.
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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: North Union football saves its season at Carlisle in OHSAA playoffs
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