H.S. Football Playoffs: Vermilion rallies in fourth to beat North Union

VERMILION — North Union dared Vermilion to throw, but the Sailors kept running into its wall until it finally broke. Vermilion piled up 380 rushing yards and scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to rally past North Union 35-21 in the opening round of the Division V, Region 18 playoffs Friday night. No. 8 seed Vermilion (8-3) will face top-seeded Keystone (9-0) in the regional quarterfinals, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. "We're always going to run the football," Vermilion coach Bill DiFucci said. "Our offensive line the way it is and the backs that we have here, we just keep reloading. We pride ourselves on running the football and playing great defense." North Union (7-4) practically begged Vermilion to pass, stacking 11 men in the box with its safeties routinely playing just 5 yards off the line of scrimmage. The Sailors stubbornly stuck to the ground, attempting just seven passes and completing one for an 11-yard gain — though three others were dropped for what would have been big plays. Vermilion ran the ball 48 times with Landon Mooney leading the way, piling up 175 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. The sophomore was held to just 47 yards on 14 carries in the first half as the Sailors only ran for 70 yards in the first 24 minutes. "We've been doing stuff like this all year," said Mooney, who gave the Sailors their first lead with 2:26 left on a 44-yard run. "There's been so many times where we've faced adversity in the first half. We've set a game plan and we'll come out in the second half and we always seem to execute." With the Sailors struggling to get anything going offensively for most of the opening half, the defense helped keep the Wildcats from running away. North Union took a 14-0 lead and held Vermilion to 11 offensive plays during its first three possessions, including back-to-back three and outs. Vermilion junior defensive back Chase Jackson intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop North Union's promising third drive. And sophomore defensive lineman Mack Mooney's sack on North Union's final possession of the half killed the drive because the Wildcats were unable to stop the clock in the final 10 seconds. "We had to make some adjustments, keep it clean with no penalties," said Jackson, who picked off three passes. "With our backs against the wall, we just had to pull through." But with 7:36 left in the half, the Sailors decided to go all in on the ground. Vermilion put together a methodical drive, running the ball on all 12 plays. Its only pass attempt came on fourth-and-6 and resulted in a pass interference call. Mooney scored his first touchdown from 13 yards out, capping a 69-yard drive that drained 6:36 off the clock. The Sailors decided to stick with the winning formula out of halftime, putting together a 5:29 drive by running the ball all 11 plays. Vermilion tied the game at 14 with a 1-yard touchdown from Isaac Kyser, who was held to just 8 yards on two carries in the first half. The junior bruiser finished with 53 yards and two touchdowns. "I'm very proud of the way we came out of the locker room," DiFucci said. "They were focused in there. They didn't panic. Adversity struck in the first half, but they continued to fight through. They're a tight unit and they weren't ready to go home." North Union's Wyatt Arver scored his second touchdown on a 14-yard run to put the Wildcats up 21-14 with 2:00 left in the third quarter. Arver led his team with 120 yards receiving on five catches — including a 28-yard touchdown catch — while also adding 44 yards rushing on 12 carries. But North Union either punted or turned the ball over on its next four drives. Meanwhile, Vermilion's commitment to the run was about to pay dividends. The Sailors scored on Kyser's 8-yard touchdown run with 4:48 left to cap a 10-play, 73-yard drive that spanned 4:40. The Sailors forced a punt and on the next play Mooney's 44-yard touchdown run put the Sailors ahead with 2:26 left. Jackson iced the game with a 58-yard interception return on North Union's ensuing play. "This is a great bunch of boys," DiFucci said. "They do a fantastic job of just rallying together and never really spiraling. We're very proud of their efforts and what they were able to do here tonight." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. Vermilion 35, North Union 21 North Union 7 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp; 0 &emsp;&emsp;— 21 Vermilion 0 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;21 — 35 Scoring summary NU — Wyat Arver, 28 pass from Nickolas Hajjar (Greyson Bledsoe kick) NU — Hajjar, 5 run (Bledsoe kick) V — Landon Mooney, 13 run (Brody Morrow kick) V — Isaac Kyser, 1 run (Morrow kick) NU — Arver, 14 run (Bledsoe kick) V — Kyser, 8 run (Morrow kick) V — Mooney, 44 run (Morrow kick) V — Chase Jackson, 58 interception return (Morrow kick)