By Sean McNamara
RACHEL – A week after running away from East Fairmont on their home field, the North Marion Huskies continued to roll Friday by defeating the Preston Knights, 41-0, for their ninth consecutive win over their Big 10 Conference foes.
The Huskies (2-0) controlled the game in all three phases Friday outgaining the Knights (0-2) 402-108 in total yardage while seeing five different players find the end zone.
North Marion ran the ball 35 times for 247 yards, with senior Aaron Hoffman leading the charge with 119 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries, with his scores coming on a 17-yard first-quarter run and an 8-yard second-quarter run. Trevor Mullet tallied 66 rushing yards and a 4-yard third-quarter touchdown on seven carries of his own, while quarterback Casey Minor ran for 51 yards.
On the other side of the ball, Preston ran the ball 29 times for 50 total yards with Ethan Likens and Cole Turner leading the way with 27 and 26 yards, respectively.
Helping the Huskies gain that lopsided advantage in the ground game and overall was North Marion’s play in the trenches, an area of the field in which Hays and senior lineman Nathan Miller were particularly happy with how their team performed.
“I thought our offensive and defensive lines really controlled the line of scrimmage,” Hays said. “We got all the guys in. We played everybody, and that’s always good, as well.”
“We were just doing our job, stepping to the right gap and making sure we got a hat on a hat,” Miller said. “I’m so proud of my defense and them putting in that hard work to show that we can be a solid defense.”
In the passing game, Minor completed 10-of-15 passes for 148 yards with touchdown passes in the first quarter to Brock Martin from 37 yards and Landon Frey from 43 yards to go along with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Landon Cowger in the second quarter, giving him three total in the game.
Martin led the Huskies with three catches for 63 yards and a score while Frey caught two for 54 yards and a touchdown and Cowger caught three for 19 yards and a score.
Turner completed 9-of-18 passes for the Knights for 58 yards with Riley Land catching four passes for 24 yards and Likens catching one pass for 22 yards.
Preston, which has now dropped five games in a row dating back to last October and 18 of its last 20, travels to East-West Stadium on Thursday to take on Fairmont Senior.
For North Marion, a tough test awaits on Sept. 15 at home when the Huskies will host Brooke after a bye week.
“I think they’re a really good football team,” Hays said. “I think they’re the most underrated team in the state in all classes in my opinion. They have 20-some seniors on their roster. They invested in those guys as sophomores and freshmen.”
NORTH MARION 41 PRESTON 0
NM;PRE
First Downs;18
Rushing Yards;247;50
Passing Yards;155;58
Total Yards;402;108
Passing;10-16-0;9-18-0
Fumbles;4;5
Fumbles Lost;1;1
Penalties;4-30;1-5
Individual Statistics
Rushing: NM: Aaron Hoffman 8-119 2 TD, Trevor Mullett 7-66 1 TD, Casey Minor 4-51, Cole Morris 4-31, Elijah Armour 3-10, Isaiah Carpenter 2-1, Blake Edgell 1-(-1), Quinton Harbert 3-(-5), TEAM 3-(-25) Totals: 35-247. PRE: Ethan Likens 7-27, Cole Turner 7-26, Roamie Rogers 2-16, Sheldon Miller 10-4, TEAM 3-(-23), Totals 29-50.
Passing: NM: Casey Minor 10-15-0 148 yards 3 TD, Cole Morris 0-1-0. PRE: Cole Turner 9-18-0 58 yards.
Receiving: NM: Brock Martin 3-63 1 TD, Landon Frey 2-54 1 TD, Landon Cowger 3-19 1 TD, Aaron Hoffman 2-10, Dylan Higgins 1-9. PRE: Riley Land 4-24, Ethan Likens 1-22, Dillon Taylor 1-4, Cody Smith 1-9, Seldyn Greaser 1-1, Sheldon Miller 1-(-2).
NM;;20;14;7;0;;41
PRE;;0;0;0;0;;0
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
NM – Aaron Hoffman 17-yard run (kick blocked)
NM – Brock Martin 37-yard pass from Casey Minor (Brady Anderson kick)
NM – Landon Frey 43-yard pass from Minor (Anderson kick)
Second Quarter
NM – Landon Cowger 7-yard pass from Minor (Anderson kick)
NM – Hoffman 8-yard run (Anderson kick)
Third Quarter
NM – Trevor Mullett 4-yard run (Anderson kick)
