vs
| 10/18/24 - Home | 38-0 W |
| 10/13/23 - Away | 0-34 L |
| 10/07/22 - Home | 39-33 W |
| 10/08/21 - Away | 0-14 L |
| 09/11/20 - Home | 14-13 W |
| 10/11/19 - Away | 10-56 L |
Graham Local and North Union are an even 3-3 against one another since October of 2019, but not for long. The Falcons will venture away from home to face off against the Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Graham Local easily dispatched Shawnee last Friday, but unfortunately both the margin and the ultimate result were a different story in this one. The Falcons fell just short of Indian Lake by a score of 24-21 on Friday. The Falcons' loss signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask North Union). They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Shawnee 48-14. Given the Wildcats' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio football rankings (they are ranked 252nd, while the Braves are ranked 571st) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.
Graham Local better focus on containing Nick Vanhoose and Griffin Osborne as the pair were huge in North Union's win. Vanhoose rushed for 151 yards and three scores on only 11 carries, while Osborne rushed for 118 yards and a pair of TDs on only 11 carries. Vanhoose is becoming a predictor of North Union's success: when he posts at least 100 rushing yards the team is undefeated (and 2-3 when he doesn't). Speaking of playmakers, who could forget Jaxon Heminger, who went all the way with a kickoff return for a touchdown.
North Union's run defense was locked in: Shawnee could only muster one yards per carry. The team can thank Kadrin Riffle for the heroic effort on defense: he. North Union's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 4.73 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 6.7 on average over their last five games.
Special teams played a big role in the game for North Union, adding 12 points to the final score. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Heminger, who ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.
North Union is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 6-3 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 30.0 points over those games. As for Graham Local, their defeat was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 7-2.
Everything came up roses for Graham Local against North Union in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as the squad secured a 38-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Falcons since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
