By Sean McNamara
RACHEL – The North Marion Huskies capped the 2024 regular season with a 49-27 win over the Liberty (Harrison) Mountaineers, improving to 7-3 on the year and setting the stage for a home game in the opening round of the Class AAA playoffs.
This year will mark the fourth-consecutive season the Huskies will have a home game in the postseason, the first time that has happened in school history.
“These guys are going to be in the state playoffs every year,” North Marion coach Daran Hays said of his senior class, noting that it was tougher for strong NMHS teams to host in the past when the playoffs featured just eight teams. “They’re hosting every year and have a chance to be in the quarterfinals every year. We’re going to have to get better in the next five days to be able to cover whoever we’re going to play.”
For the Mountaineers and their depleted 2024 roster, the loss marked the final game in program history with the Harrison County school set to consolidate with Robert C. Byrd High School following the 2024-25 academic year.
“These boys stuck together knowing what kind of challenge we were up against this year,” coach AJ Harman said. “They had a choice to go play anywhere else and they wanted to be Mountaineers. Coach (Ryan) Lantz was on our hearts all year. That was another challenge. I’m proud of these boys. This is a family.”
The Mountaineers from Liberty began varsity competition in 1973 following the consolidation of Victory, Salem and Bristol High schools. Over the next half century, Liberty saw nine head coaches lead the Mountaineers to eight postseason appearances and a 206-314 record all-time.
“I bleed red, white and blue,” Harman said. “This has been my dream job since the get-go. I played here. I grew up here. This is my alma mater, and there’s been so many years of great tradition at Liberty High School. It’s a unique place and I wouldn’t trade my time here for anything.”
“He’s the right guy to get them navigated through this,” NM coach Daran Hays said of Harman and the Mountaineers. “They played hard. Teams tend to emulate their coach, and those guys never quit. They fight on, as they would say. They play with a real edge and toughness.”
Both offenses had their share of fireworks in the game, with North Marion gaining 484 yards of offense on 31 plays and Liberty putting up 428 total yards on 71 plays.
Brian Poindexter set the tone for the Huskies with 241 yards and three scores on 15 carries, marking his best output in both categories during his freshman season.
“He’s explosive and he’s dynamic,” Hays said of Poindexter. “He can do a lot of things with the ball in his hands. He had a really nice night. I thought the O-line really answered the bell in terms of stepping together and really moving people.”
Isaiah Heflin and Christian Davis led the way for the Mountaineers as Heflin completed 18-of-34 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns with Davis catching eight passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns.
“Defensively, I didn’t think we did a very good job,” Harman said. “Offensively, we had to be creative. They weren’t allowing us to run the ball the way we wanted to. Isaiah did a great job distributing it. Christian – we knew he had that game in him. I wish it didn’t take until the last game of the year. But Christian came out and was lights out, and Isaiah was able to get the ball to him.”
Brady Anderson and Cyrus Collins each brought in interceptions for the Huskies while Tyler Jones recovered a fumble for Liberty.
The Huskies jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter on a Toby Michael 6-yard TD run and a PAT from Anderson.
North Marion added two second-quarter touchdowns on a 77-yard run by Poindexter and a 32-yard run for Michael, brining the score to 21-0 following a pair of Anderson PATs.
The Mountaineers got on the board just before halftime when Davis hauled in a 30-yard TD pass from Isaiah Heflin, who also knocked in the PAT to bring the score to 21-7 at the break.
In the third quarter, the Huskies tacked on three more touchdowns which came on runs of 34 and 29 yards from Poindexter and Noah Hess, respectively, as well as a 34-yard TD pass from Cole Morris to Collins.
Liberty also found the end zone in the third quarter in the same way it did in the second as Davis brought in a 30-yard TD pass from Heflin, and at the end of three quarters it was 42-13, Huskies.
The Mountaineers opened the scoring in the fourth quarter when Davis brought in his third TD pass from Helfin, this one for an 82-yard touchdown to bring the score to 42-19.
North Marion was quick to answer, however, as Poindexter found the end zone for the third time in the game, this time from 11 yards away to make it 49-19.
Liberty’s Lukas Moore capped off the scoring with a 1-yard TD run late in the fourth quarter, brining the final score to 49-27 after Colton Lindsay ran in the 2-point conversion.
With the loss, Liberty ends its season with a 4-6 record.
“They fought all year long despite not having many kids on the team and not being the biggest, fastest and strongest,” Harman said. “They had a lot of pride in who we are. I’m proud of them.”
The Huskies complete the regular season 7-3 move on to the postseason and await their first-round opponent.
NORTH MARION 49 LIBERTY 27
NM;LIB
First Downs;;21;24
Rushing Yards;;364;112
Passing Yards;;120;316
Total Yards;;484;428
Passing;;5-7-0;18-34-2
Fumbles;;2;0
Fumbles Lost;;1;0
Penalties;;7-61;6-60
Individual Stats
Rushing – NM: Brian Poindexter 15-241 3 TD, Toby Michael 2-38 2 TD, Cole Morris 2-32, Noah Hess 1-29 1 TD, Blake Edgell 2-29, Team 2-(-5) Totals 24-364. LIB: Quinten Hillard 12-30, Isaiah Heflin 10-20, Noah Schoonover 5-10, Lukas Moore 4-13, Colton Lindsay 3-28, Landon Clevenger 3-11. Totals 37-112.
Passing – NM: Cole Morris 4-6-0 85 yards 1 TD, Toby Michael 1-1-0 35 yards. LIB: Isaiah Heflin 18-34-2 316 yards 3 TD.
Receiving – NM: Noah Hess 1-35, Cyrus Collins 1-32 1 TD, Taylor Hayes 1-19, Brady Anderson 1-13, Landyn Stemple 1-21. LIB: Christian Davis 8-209, Quinten Hillard 4-39, Noah Shoonover 2-25, Landon Clevenger 4-43.
NM;;7;14;21;7;;49
LIB;;0;7;6;14;;27
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
NM – Toby Michael 6-yard run (Brady Anderson kick)
Second Quarter
NM – Brian Poindexter 77-yard run (Anderson kick)
NM – Michael 32-yard run (Anderson kick)
LIB – Christian Davis 30-yard pass from Isaiah Heflin (Heflin kick)
Third Quarter
NM – Poindexter 34-yard run (Anderson kick)
NM – Cyrus Collins 34-yard pass from Cole Morris (Anderson kick)
LIB – Davis 30-yard pass from Heflin (kick blocked)
NM – Noah Hess 29-yard run (Anderson kick)
Fourth Quarter
LIB – Davis 82-yard pass from Heflin (pass failed)
NM – Poindexter 11-yard run (Anderson kick)
LIB – Lukas Moore 1-yard run (Colton Lindsay run)
