Pleasant sweeps past North Union

RICHWOOD – Pleasant used a punishing offense and a stingy defense to score a 14-0 win over North Union in a Mid Ohio Athletic Conference joust on the Wildcat field.

The Spartans (5-1, 2-1) ran the ball for 196 yards and totaled 303 yards against the Wildcats. Pleasant limited North Union to 158 yards for the contest.

“We came out a little bit flat, but we put it together quickly,” said Pleasant coach Aaron Cook. “We got the ball moving some and we played very well on defense.”

After dropping its opening MOAC game to Jonathan Alder, the Spartans have picked up two huge wins with the victory over River Valley last week and the verdict over North Union.

“It’s been a series of big games,” said Cook. “Every week in the MOAC is a battle and you need to be ready to play. We did not come out ready to play at the start, but we fought hard.”

North Union coach Nick Hajjar knew what to expect from the Spartans.

“You know it is going to be a tough, hard-hitting game when these teams play,” said Hajjar. “We played hard, but we came up a bit short. We had some mistakes and they will cost you in a game like this.”

Pleasant came up with the only points of the first half with a nifty 35-yard pass from Joe Craycraft to Zach Pytlarz with 8:14 to play in the second period. Logan Thompson added the PAT kick and Pleasant had a 7-0 lead.

The Spartans had the same lead at the halftime break, but Pleasant knocked on the door twice in the first two periods.

Pleasant had a first and goal at the 9 late in the opening quarter, but a holding penalty negated a Spartan touchdown. Pleasant turned the ball over on downs when the Wildcats held on defense on a fourth down from the 29.

The Spartans again pushed the ball down toward the end zone late in the first half. Pleasant had a first and goal at the 10, but the North Union (4-2, 1-2) defense stiffened and held the visitors without points on a fourth down from the four. Pleasant used a big 49-yard pass from Craycraft to Pytlarz to move the ball down into a threatening position before the Wildcats tightened up on defense.

“We had a good hold there at the end of the first half and we go the ball to start the second half and we felt we had some momentum,” said Hajjar. “We just could not get things rolling.”

Pleasant did not punt in the first half and rolled up 226 yards, but only had the one touchdown. The Spartan defense was stout in the first 24 minutes as the Wildcats gained just 79 yards.

The defenses were in the spotlight in the third period as neither team could reach the end zone and each had drives end in punts.

The Pleasant defense came up with a stop early in the fourth when a pass fell incomplete near the end zone. The Wildcats had moved the ball down to the 22, but could not move it any closer.

Drake Price came up with an interception at the two to snuff out a Pleasant march. North Union gained a first down on a roughing the kicker penalty on a punt try, but the Cats could not get anything going after that. Pleasant took over on downs and Clay Cheney scored on an 18-yard run moments later. The PAT kick by Thompson was good for a 14-0 count with 1:48 remaining.

“I’m proud of how hard our kids fought tonight,” said Cook. “North Union is a well-coached team and they played hard. I am proud we were able to come out of here with a win.”

Cheney carried the ball 12 times for 69 yards to top the Spartan rushers, while Craycraft ran nine times for 62 yards and Matt Chase added 61 yards on 17 tries. Pytlarz had two catches for 84 yards and Josh Warner added one catch for 33 yards.

Tim Davis carried the oval 17 times for 77 yards for NU, while Luke Krawczyk added 38 yards on 10 trips.