By Sean McNamara
ELKINS – With starting quarterback Casey Minor sidelined for the game, Quinton Harbert took over the reins at quarterback for the North Marion Huskies on Thursday at Elkins and led his team to a 49-14 win over the Tigers.
In the victory, Harbert completed 8-of-10 passes for 117 yards and four touchdown tosses.
“I felt really comfortable being behind a really good line,” Harbert said. “I thought I executed well. I thought we played pretty well, and I’m glad to be back there.”
Harbert’s top target in the game was Landon Frey who brought in three passes for 73 yards and three touchdowns.
“With Casey being out I just had a lot of confidence in (Harbert) coming into this week’s game,” Frey said. “In practice he was dialed in. I was really proud of him. I think our offense as a whole did really well without our leader.”
North Marion added 220 rushing yards in the game for 337 total yards on 42 plays, outgaining Elkins by 187 yards in the process.
While North Marion held a statistical edge across the board, it was the Tigers who came out and set the tone early.
Elkins came into Thursday’s game following its first win of the season, a 28-7 victory last week over Grafton, and the Tigers kept that momentum going with a 14-play drive to open the game which was capped by a 1-yard scoring plunge from Nick Bowers.
The initial surge, however, was short-lived and the Huskies quickly took over control.
On their first drive, the Huskies utilized a 50-yard run by Aaron Hoffman to set up a 6-yard QB keeper from Harbert to tie things up after a Brady Anderson PAT.
The second quarter featured much of the same as North Marion forced two Elkins turnovers – an interception by NMHS’s Brandon Matheny and a fumble recovery by Kaleb Spencer – and scored 28 unanswered points.
Three of those scores came on touchdown passes of 9, 29, and 35 yards from Harbert to Frey, with Hoffman scoring on a 19-yard run along the way.
At the half, North Marion held a 35-7 lead.
The Huskies tacked on two more touchdowns in the third quarter on a Trevor Mullett 1-yard TD run and a 12-yard scoring strike from Harbert to Dylan Higgins.
Elkins scored its second TD on the night early in the fourth quarter on a Dylan Fortney 3-yard run, which he set up with a 43-yard run earlier on the drive.
Both teams grinded out some additional rushing yards with the clock running in the fourth before the final score settled at 49-14.
“I thought we played really well,” Harbert said. “We executed well and played good defense after that first series, which wasn’t good. But we played well. I’m played of how we played.”
Hoffman rushed for a game-high 83 yards on five carries for NMHS while Mullett ran for 54 yards in the win.
North Marion will end its three-game road trip and return home next Friday when it hosts Lewis County.
“I thought we responded really well,” Frey said. “We needed that game to kind of bounce back and get back in the (swing) of things. I’m excited to play Lewis County.”
Bowers led the Tigers with 64 yards on 21 carries while Fortney ran for 62 yards on nine carries with each of the two Tigers finding the end zone.
The Tigers rushed for 150 yards in the game and did not complete a pass.
Elkins will have a bye week in Week 8 before hosting East Fairmont on October 20.
NORTH MARION ELKINS
NM;ELK
First Downs;17;9
Rushing Yards;220;150
Passing Yards;117;0
Total Yards;337;150
Passing;8-10-0;0-1-1
Fumbles;1;1
Fumbles Lost;0;1
Penalties;7-53;7-56
Individual Stats
Rushing: NM: Aaron Hoffman 5-83 1 TD, Trevor Mullett 7-54 1 TD, Quinton Harbert 5-29 1 TD, Cole Morris 4-19, Cyrus Collins 2-18, Elijah Armour 5-15, Isaiah Carpenter 1-3, Dylan Higgins 1-2, Brock Martin 1-1, Blake Edgell 1-1, TEAM 1-(-5). Totals: 32-220. ELK: Nick Bowers 21-64 1 TD, Dylan Fortney 9-62 1 TD, Riley Rider 9-22, Jayden-Michael Harding 3-7, Matthew McDonald 1-7, Nathaniel Sauerwein 1-(-5), TEAM 1-(-7). Totals: 45-150
Passing: NM: Quinton Harbert 8-10-0 117 4 TD. ELK: Nathaniel Sauerwein 0-1-1.
Receiving: NM: Landon Frey 3-73 3 TD, Dylan Higgins 2-22 1 TD, Brock Martin 2-20, Jeff Cowger 1-2.
NM;;7;28;14;0;;49
ELK;;7;0;0;7;;14
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
ELK – Nick Bowers 1-yard run (Bowers kick)
NM – Quinton Harbert 6-yard run (Anderson kick)
Second Quarter
NM – Landon Frey 9-yard pass from Harbert (Anderson kick)
NM – Frey 29-yard pass from Harbert (Anderson kick)
NM – Hoffman 19-yard run (Anderson kick)
NM – Frey 35-yard pass from Harbert (Anderson kick)
Third Quarter
NM – Trevor Mullett 1-yard run (Anderson kick)
NM – Dylan Higgins 12-yard pass from Harbert (Anderson kick)
Fourth Quarter
ELK – Dylan Fortney 3-yard run (Bowers kick)
