By Sean McNamara, for Lootpress
Photos by Emmy Gallagher
FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Senior Polar Bears knocked off the North Marion Huskies, 54-36, at East-West Stadium on Friday, marking their 20th consecutive win the Marion County rivalry series.
The win improves Fairmont Senior to 5-1 on the season and drops the Huskies, who came into the game as the top-ranked team in the WVSSAC Class AA playoff rankings.
In Friday’s win, Fairmont Senior racked up 515 total yards of offense with 235 yards rushing and a 280-yard passing performance from quarterback Brody Whitehair.
“We were balanced on offense,” Bartic said. “But as a D-coordinator, you don’t like that they scored 36 points. We’re going to have to address that, but I think it shows you that those were two really good teams battling it out right there. That was a hard-fought entertaining game.”
Whitehair completed 13-of-22 passes with no interceptions in the win. Cannon Dinger was his top target with five catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns while Gavin Michael caught four passes for 88 yards.
“Tonight, I thought we had a really good chance coming in,” NMHS coach Daran Hays said. “I thought we matched up better than we have in the past. Credit to them. I’m sure they heard it all week. Our secondary had been playing really well and they toasted us back there.”
North Marion managed to move the ball offensively, as well, with 157 rushing yards and 269 passing yards from quarterback Casey Minor in the loss.
After getting deep into Husky territory on their opening drive, the Polar Bears turned the ball over on
downs inside the NMHS 10, but were able to force a punt several plays later.
Now with possession back near midfield, Whitehair connected on his first touchdown throw of the night, swinging a pass to Damani Johnson who raced 52 yards to the end zone for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead after Cam Peschl’s PAT.
Moments later, Whitehair made another big play, this time intercepting NMHS quarterback Casey Minor to take possession back for the Polar Bears.
After driving down inside the 5, Whitehair called his own number, scoring from 1 yard away to make the score 14-0 FSHS heading into the second quarter.
Down two scores, North Marion was able to find a big play of its own as senior running back Aaron Hoffman went off right tackle and ran 54 yards for a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 14-7 after Brady Anderson made his PAT.
Less than two minutes after Hoffman’s rushing touchdown, FSHS running back Dylan Ours, who was injured two weeks ago against Bridgeport and played limited snaps last week at University, capped the next FSHS drive with a score as he ran in a touchdown from 2 yards away, giving the home team a 21-7 lead after Peschl knocked in the PAT.
“This week he looked pretty good, and it was just a matter of seeing what he could tolerate,” Bartic said of Ours. “He’s tough as nails, and you kind of got to see that out of him tonight playing through exhaustion.”
Once again, however, the Huskies were able to answer as a 45-yard pass from Minor to Brock Martin on third and 17 set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Minor to Landon Frey. That touchdown, which came on a diving catch in the back of the end zone, cut the Polar Bear lead to 21-14 after the Anderson PAT.
Trying to build on their momentum, North Marion recovered an onside kick attempt – their third attempt in the game to that point – and took back possession.
A couple of runs by Hoffman helped get the Huskies inside the FSHS 10, but the Polar Bear defense stood tall, forcing a turnover on downs and taking over possession at their own 6 with two minutes left in the half.
“I think we were a little shell shocked initially because we’ve been so successful early on,” Hays said. “We were a little shell shocked but I thought we battled right back into it. Those last two drives there at the end of the half were really nails in the coffin in hindsight.”
Now in the two-minute drill, Whitehair and Co. went to work.
A 43-yard run by Ours quickly advanced the ball downfield and set up a 31-yard touchdown pass from Whitehair to Cannon Dinger with 28 seconds left in the half, giving the Polar Bears a two-score halftime lead at 28-14.
The offensive fireworks continued into the second half, starting with a Whitehair 9-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to Navaughn Jones with 5:49 left in the third quarter.
Exactly one minute later the Huskies answered as Minor hit Jeff Cowger down the left sideline with a 23-yard touchdown pass, keeping the deficit at two scores at 35-21.
Following a long kickoff return from Ours, the Polar Bears took just 30 seconds to score as Whitehair rolled out to the right and went 19 yards to paydirt, extending the lead to 41-21.
Once again, it took the Huskies a minute of game time to answer as Minor connected with Martin on a 62-yard touchdown pass, to make the score 41-28 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter, however, belonged to the Polar Bears who used a 3-yard TD pass from Whitehair to Dinger and a 9-yard TD run from Johnson and an interception by Dinger to put the game out of reach.
The Huskies got on the board once more with less than a minute to play on an 8-yard TD run from Trevor Mullett, but it was too little too late as FSHS secured the 54-36 win.
Martin was Minor’s top receiving target with 118 yards on three catches while Frey caught six passes for 67 yards, and Hoffman ran for a game-high 127 yards on 14 carries.
Now with Elkins next on the schedule in a road game on Thursday, Hays said the Huskies will move on from Friday’s loss and prepare for the Tigers.
Ours rushed for a team-best 105 yards in the win while Johnson racked up 72 yards on the ground to go along with his 52-yard TD reception.
Next up, FSHS will take on Morgantown, marking another tough test on the gauntlet that is the Polar Bears schedule.
FAIRMONT SENIOR 54 NORTH MARION 36
Team Statistics
FS;NM
First Downs;19;16
Rushing Yards;235;157
Passing Yards;280;269
Total Yards;515;426
Passing; 13-22-0;13-20-2
Fumbles;1;0
Fumbles Lost;0;0
Penalties;10-85;6-41
Individual Statistics
Rushing: FS: Dylan Ours 12-105 1 TD, Damani Johnson 10-72 1 TD; Chris Wilson 5-32, Brody Whitehair 8-27 2 TD, TEAM 1-(-1). Totals: 36-235. NM: Aaron Hoffman 14-127 1 TD, Trevor Mullett 8-25 1 TD, Casey Minor 7-15, Team 1-(-10). Totals: 30-157.
Passing: FS: Brody Whitehair 13-22-0 280 4 TD. NM: Casey Minor 13-20-2 269 3 TD.
Receiving: FS: Cannon Dinger 5-107 2 TD, Gavin Michael 4-88, Damani Johnson 1-52 1 TD, Logan Canfield 1-20, Navaughn Jones 1-9 1 TD, Dylan Ours 1-4. NM: Landon Frey 6-67 1 TD, Brock Martin 3-118 1 TD, Richie Eddy 2-27, Dylan Higgins 1-34, Jeff Cowger 1-23 1 TD.
FS;;14;14;13;13;;54
NM;;0;14;14;8;;36
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
FS – Damani Johnson 52-yard pass from Brody Whitehair (Cam Peschl kick)
FS – Whitehair 1-yard run (Peschl kick)
Second Quarter
NM – Aaron Hoffman 54-yard run (Brady Anderson kick)
FS – Dylan Ours 2-yard run (Peschl kick)
NM – Landon Frey 10-yard pass from Casey Minor (Anderson kick)
FS – Cannon Dinger 31-yard pass from Whitehair (Peschl kick)
Third Quarter
FS – Navaughn Jones 9-yard pass from Whitehair (Peschl kick)
NM – Landon Cowger 23-yard pass from Minor (Anderson kick)
FS – Whitehair 19-yard run (kick failed)
NM – Brock Martin 62-yard pass from Minor (Anderson kick)
Fourth Quarter
FS – Dinger 3-yard pass from Whitehair (pass failed)
FS – Johnson 9-yard run (Peschl kick)
NM – Trevor Mullett 8-yard run (Martin run)
