By Sean McNamara
WESTON – Timely runs, defensive stops and two critical interceptions propelled the Class AAA No. 16 Lewis County Minutemen to a 21-15 upset win on their home field over the Class AAA No. 5 North Marion Huskies on Friday at Lewis County High School.
“It’s a huge win, man,” an emotional Lewis County coach Dustin Cogar said following the win Friday. “I don’t know if we’ve ever won one like that.”
When asked what he meant by “one like that,” Cogar quickly clarified and expressed what Friday’s victory meant for his team, school and community.
“A game we weren’t supposed to win,” Cogar explained. “They’re a ranked team that played for a state championship (last season). They’re an excellent coached football team. To put it together and hold onto it at the end – we made it interesting – I thought we played a great game. Hats off to our guys. It’s a great win for our community.”
Throughout the contest, North Marion outgained Lewis County 268-180 in total yards and held a 9-8 advantage in first downs, but a 2-0 disparity in the turnover margin and penalties at key times doomed the Huskies, dropping them to 5-2 with the loss.
“The film’s going to be ugly,” North Marion coach Daran Hays said. “We booted and didn’t run on the boots. We didn’t stick the ball up in the B-gap and tried to spill everything. Defensively we had a lot of arm tackles. There’s just a lot of stuff.”
The first key play of the game came on North Marion’s opening drive when Husky QB Toby Michael was intercepted by Lewis County senior Owen Accord, setting up a short field for the Minutemen.
Cogar’s squad answered quickly as quarterback Eli Jones scampered around the left side on third and goal to score an 8-yard touchdown to put his team up, 7-0, following an Aiden Oldaker PAT.
After a North Marion turnover on downs, each team traded a pair of three and outs with LC clinging to the 7-0 lead until late in the second quarter when Alex Goodwin took a fourth-and-1 carry 50 yards to the house to give the Minutemen a 14-0 lead at halftime.
As the third quarter began and neither team was able to get much going, the Huskies got on the board on their second drive of the period when Cole Morris hit Noah Hess down the right sideline with a 72-yard catch-and-run TD to cut the lead to 14-7 following Brady Anderson’s PAT.
On the ensuing LC drive, the Huskies forced a turnover on downs and were poised to tie the game when the Minutemen forced their second turnover of the game as Maddox Gillespie stepped in front of a Morris pass and raced 40 yards down the sideline for the pick-six to put Lewis County up, 21-7.
Gillespie, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior left his mark all over Friday’s game, making things tough on the Huskies all night and inspiring his team in the process.
“Fifty-two (Gillespie) is really tough to block and he does a lot of different stuff,” Hays said. “He created some negatives and got us behind the chains. We just didn’t do a very good job.”
Cogar echoed Hays’ comments and praised his senior for all he’s done throughout the season.
“I’ve never done this in 17 years, 10 as a head coach, but 52 (Gillespie) is special,” Cogar said. “If he’s not an All-State football player, I don’t know who is. We have a lobby for him in the central part of the state right now, and I’m putting a plug in because he deserves it.”
North Marion hung tough in the final quarter, getting the game back to one possession thanks to a Cyrus Collins 4-yard TD run and subsequent 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 21-15.
After a forced three and out, North Marion got the ball back and drove to midfield, but were stopped on a fourth and 2, allowing the Minutemen to take over possession and close out the victory.
Goodwin led the Minutemen with 123 yards and a score on 25 carries while Acord pitched in 41 rushing yards.
Next up for Lewis County will be a road trip to Philip Barbour next week, and Cogar hopes his team can build off the momentum it gained Friday.
“We’re going to get back to work,” Cogar said. “We will enjoy this one, but we embrace the whole mantra of 24 hours, and then we go back to work. We can’t have a letdown, because we go on the road two weeks in a row.”
For the Huskies, Morris completed 6-of-12 passes for 162 yards with Brian Poindexter leading the rushing attack with eight carries for 74 yards while Anderson and Hess caught two passes each for 54 and 80 yards, respectively.
North Marion will close out the regular season with three consecutive home games, the first coming next week against Robert C. Byrd.
“We just have to forget about this and put it in the rear-view mirror, but also learn from it,” Hays said. “That’s the biggest challenge. We’ll see if we have any leaders emerge through adversity. It’s easy to lead when things are going well, and it’s not so great to lead when things aren’t.”
LEWIS COUNTY 21 NORTH MARION 15
LC;NM
First Downs;;8;9
Rushing Yards;;180;106
Passing Yards;;0;162
Passing;;0-1-0;6-13-2
Total Yards;;180;268
Fumbles;;1;3
Fumbles Lost;;0;0
Penalties;;3-24;7-50
Individual Stats
Rushing – LC: Alex Goodwin 25-124 1 TD, Owen Acord 10-41; Eli Jones 2-3 1 TD, Garrett Moats 6-20, TEAM 3-(-8). Totals 46-180. NM: Brian Poindexter 8-74, Cyrus Collins 4-41 1 TD, Karter Parson 6-11, Cole Morris 4-0, Toby Michael 5-(-5), TEAM 1-(-15). Totals 28-106.
Passing – LC: Eli Jones 0-1-0. NM: Cole Morris 6-12-1 162 1 TD. Toby Michael 0-1-1.
Receiving – NM: Noah Hess 2-80 1 TD, Brady Anderson 2-54, Brain Poindexter 1-15, Landyn Stemple 1-17.
LC;;7;7;0;7;;21
NM;;0;0;7;8;;15
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
LC – Eli Jones 8-yard rush (Aiden Oldaker kick)
Second Quarter
LC – Alex Goodwin 50-yard rush (Oldaker kick)
Third Quarter
NM – Noah Hess 72-yard reception from Cole Morris (Brady Anderson kick)
Fourth Quarter
LC – Maddox Gillespie 40-yard interception return (Oldaker kick)
NM – Cyrus Collins 4-yard rush (Collins rush)
