By ROB HAMILTON

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Cardington gave a tough showing in a defensive-minded road contest to open their football season, but fell to North Union 21-14 on Friday.

The Pirates opened the game’s scoring with a 53-yard passing play from Luke McCarrell to Daniel Kill early in the game. However, the Wildcats would tie the game before the half and then took a 14-7 advantage in the early stages of the third quarter.

A fourth-quarter touchdown increased their advantage to two scores, but Cardington would fight back into the game with a 54-yard scoring pass from McCarrell to Devin Pearl. They would not be able to eliminate the rest of their deficit, though, and the Wildcats were able to close out the win.

Pearl caught four passes for 94 yards to lead the team offensively.

Highland Scots

Highland scored first against visiting Loudonville on Friday, but the Redbirds rattled off 28 straight points to win 28-7.

In the second quarter, the Scots got a six-yard scoring run by Jared Limings to get on the board. Satchel Denton followed with the extra point to make the score 7-0.

However, Loudonville would get two long touchdown runs by Austin VanSickle (65 and 76 yards) before the half to take the lead. VanSickle would then throw a pair of second-half touchdowns to provide the final margin of victory for the Redbirds.

The Scots were outgunned 409-312 in the game. Limings paced the offense with 142 rushing yards. Andrew Stillwell completed 9-of-19 passes for 97 yards, with Dylan Tuggle catching four balls for 39 of that total.

Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS