By Sean McNamara, For Lootpress
FAIRMONT – Now in Class AAA, the North Marion Huskies kicked off the 2024 campaign against Marion County rival East Fairmont, and, despite some early bumps, were able to rally in the second half and earn a 28-21 victory.
The Huskies, fresh off a Class AA state runner-up finish a year ago (1-0) lost fumbles on three of their first four possessions, giving East Fairmont short fields to work with throughout the first half.
Behind the play of sophomore quarterback Rowan Cramer, the Bees were able to take advantage and pull out to a 14-0 halftime lead, but EFHS coach Shane Eakle thought his team could have done more with the opportunities it had.
“We just didn’t capitalize,” Eakle, whose Bees had four possessions start in NMHS territory in the first two quarters said. “It probably should have been a lot worse than that. I don’t know what the official number was, but we probably had close to 100 yards in offensive penalties. You can’t do that.”
The two scoring drives the Bees had both started inside the North Marion 30 with Cramer connecting on third-and-long TD passes of 36 and 21 yards to Gavin Murphey and Tristan Boone, respectively.
Cramer, who takes over for graduated All-State performer Ian Crookshanks, completed 7-of-18 passes in the game for 134 yards and three touchdowns in the game.
“I thought he did OK,” Eakle said. “He managed the game. He made some plays for us and stepped up. For his first start, he gave us the opportunity to win the game.”
Down 14-0 to start the third, the Huskies received the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards down the field with the drive culminating with a 12-yard touchdown run from Toby Michael.
Like East Fairmont, North Marion comes into this season needing to replace an All-State quarterback (Casey Minor), and the Huskies are doing so by committee with Michael and Cole Morris each taking reps behind center.
Each left their mark on Thursday’s game with Michael rushing for a game-high 144 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 123 yards and a score through the air. Morris completed one pass for 11 yards and ran once for 13 yards, coming in and making some crucial plays at key moments in the game.
“The nice thing about it from my end is that it all kind of runs together,” Hays said. “I can’t remember which quarterback did what. I know tonight Toby probably played a little bit better because of the style of game it was, but I couldn’t be more proud of Cole, as well.”
Michael scored again from 1 yard away to close the third, taking a two-touchdown halftime deficit and tying the game up 12 minutes later.
“We made a couple little adjustments,” Hays said of what he and his team did differently between the two halves. “We challenged the physicality-wise. The credit goes to the leaders on our team.”
North Marion extended its lead to 14 in the fourth quarter thanks to a 1-yard TD run from Trevor Mullett and a 42-yard TD pass from Michael to Karter Parson.
East Fairmont scored late on a 54-yard TD pass from Cramer to Cole Vangilder, but North Marion was able to run out the clock for the win.
For the Bees, Adrian Fleming led the way with 44 yards rushing while Vangilder caught three passes for 70 yards as the Bees prepare for a Week 2 road trip to Grafton.
“We have to have a short memory,” Eakle said. “We have to make sure that we can execute. That’s the big thing for us. We have to do what we’re supposed to do and not penalize ourselves. We have to get out of our way next week.”
In addition to the play of the QB duo, North Marion got 61 rushing yards from Mullett, 68 rushing yards from Brian Poindexter and receptions from Noah Hess, Brady Anderson, Cyrus Collins and Landyn Stemple.
The Huskies will travel to Preston to take on the Knights in Week 2.
NORTH MARION 28 EAST FAIRMONT 14
First Downs;;22;8
Rushing Yards;;276;27
Passing Yards;;119;134
Total Yards;;395;171
Passing;;6-8-0;7-18-0
Fumbles;;4;1
Fumbles Lost;;3;0
Penalties;;6-38;9-65
Individual Statistics
Rushing: North Marion: Toby Michael 22-144 2 TD; Trevor Mullett 17-61 1 TD; Brian Poindexter 8-68; Cole Morris 1-13; TEAM 4-(-10). Total 52-276. East Fairmont: Adrian Fleming 10-44; Anthony Corwin 10-15; Rowan Cramer 5-(-12), TEAM 2-(-10). Totals: 27-37.
Passing: North Marion: Toby Michael: 5-7-0 123 1 TD. Cole Morris 1-1-0 11. East Fairmont: Rowan Cramer 7-18-0 134 3 TD.
Receiving: North Marion: Karter Parson 1-42 1 TD, Brady Anderson 1-39, Landyn Stemple 1-16, Noah Hess 2-13, Cyrus Collins 1-9. East Fairmont: Cole Vangilder 3-70 1 TD, Gavin Murphey 1-36 1 TD, Tristan Boone 2-29 1 TD, Adrian Fleming 1-(-10).
NM;;0;0;14;14;;28
EF;;7;7;0;7;;21
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
East Fairmont – Gavin Murphey 36-yard pass from Rowan Cramer (Karson Church kick)
Second Quarter
East Fairmont – Tristan Boone 21-yard pass from Cramer (Church kick)
Third Quarter
North Marion – Toby Michael 12-yard run (kick failed)
North Marion – Toby Michael 1-yard run (Michael run)
Fourth Quarter
North Marion – Trevor Mullett 1-yard run (Brady Anderson kick)
North Marion – Karter Parson 42-yard pass from Michael (Anderson kick)
East Fairmont – Vangilder 54-yard pass from Cramer (Church kick)
