By Sean McNamara
RACHEL – The North Marion Huskies got back into the win column Friday, bouncing back from their Week 4 loss to Fairmont Senior and defeating the Lincoln Cougars, 40-7, on Roy Michael Field at Woodcutter Stadium in Rachel.
“It feels great to come off of a loss and bounce back that quick and win a big game by a lot of points,” senior Brady Anderson said. “It makes our team better and better.”
North Marion (4-1) set the tone right off the bat Friday, opening the game on an 11-play drive that took nearly 6 minutes off the clock, spanned 67 yards and culminated with a 12-yard TD pass from Toby Michael to Cyrus Collins.
The Huskies built off their strong start, putting together a strong first half in all three phases of the game with Brady Anderson intercepting two passes on defense, Brian Poindexter recovering two kickoffs on special teams, and four more Huskies finding the end zone on offense en route to a 34-0 halftime lead.
Anderson’s two interceptions both came in the second quarter on deep balls from Lincoln QB AJ Bart that were intended for Aidan Rice, with Anderson returning the second pick all the way to the Cougar 5-yard line to set up a touchdown.
“We watched a lot of film and we knew they ran post, so we played inside shade,” Anderson said. “Every time he’d run a post, I could read it and the ball was right there.”
Also gaining the Huskies extra possessions were the two kickoff recoveries by Poindexter, who pounced on each inside the Lincoln 40-yard line.
“The call was squib right,” the freshman Poindexter said. “I just full sprinted down there and saw the ball. Two kids missed it and I dived on the first one. The second one wasn’t fully out, so I just caught it and tried to get my toe inside the line and balance. That’s what I did.”
“I thought early in the second quarter at least we were competing and gave ourselves a chance,” Lincoln coach Rob Hawkins said. “Then we gave them a short field three times in a row, one with the interception and then two with the botched kickoffs. You just can’t do that against a good team.”
In addition to Collins’ early touchdown, the Huskies scored four touchdowns in the second quarter on a 31-yard run from Michael, a 3-yard run from Cole Morris, a 1-yard run from Poindexter and a 33-yard pass from Morris to Karter Parson.
While the NMHS offense moved the ball to the tune of 302 first-half yards, the Cougars (1-3) were limited to 69 total yards of offense through two quarters, with 40 yards worth of first-half penalties thwarting any threats they were able to make.
To open the second half, the Cougars put together a 17-play drive that took 8:51 off the clock and ended with a Bart to Aidan Rice 19-yard TD connection on fourth down.
“I’m proud of the fact that we came out in the second half and kept competing,” Hawkins said. “We didn’t lay down. We came out and battled. We were able to finish a drive, which has been our Achille’s heel all year.”
With Lincoln’s drive taking up much of the third quarter, North Marion’s first drive of the period extended into the fourth, ultimately ending with a turnover on downs inside the Lincoln 10.
After the Cougars’ defense recorded its second stop of the night, the visitors were unable to do anything with the possession, as a sack of Bart slowed the drive that ended with a punt.
Passing for Bart was a challenge throughout the night as a result of the Husky defense, which sacked the senior signal caller seven times and limited him to 16-of-24 passing for 151 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
North Marion tacked on a late TD on a 12-yard run by Jacob Kucish, bringing the final score to 40-7.
In total, North Marion outgained Lincoln 386-168 in total yards and held a 4-0 advantage in turnover margin.
Michael led the Huskies with 70 rushing yards and 62 passing yards, while Morris ran for 21 and passed for 49, with each NMHS quarterback rushing and throwing for a touchdown.
In total, 12 different Huskies touched the ball Friday, with six of them finding the end zone.
“It’s really good when you have a lot of kids (contributing),” Poindexter said. “We’re young, too. We have a lot of juniors.”
Aidan Rice led the Cougars in offense with 99 receiving yards on eight catches, while Connor Rice led the team with 19 rushing yards.
Next up for the Cougars will be a home game against Lewis County next Friday, while the Huskies will have a bye week before a home game against Elkins in Week 7.
NORTH MARION 40 LINCOLN 7
First Downs;;18;10
Rush Yards;275;17
Pass Yards;111;151
Total Yards;386;168
Passing;9-16-0;16-24-2
Fumbles;3;2
Fumbles Lost;0;2
Penalties;9-85;
NM;;7;27;0;6;;40
LIN;;0;0;7;0;;7
Individual Stats
Rushing – NM: Toby Michael 7-70 1 TD, Trevor Mullett 6-50, Noah Hess 3-43, Brian Poindexter 8-30 1 TD, Cole Morris 2-21 1 TD, Jacob Kucish 1-12 1 TD, Karter Parson 2-9, Blake Edgell 3-9, Kolson Brown 2-4, Isaiah Carpenter 1-(-1), TEAM 1-(-17) Totals 41-275. LIN: Connor Rice 5-19, Cade Mooney 5-16, Aidan Rice 2-7, AJ Bart 9-(-25), Totals: 21-17.
Passing – NM: Toby Michael 6-10-0 62 yards 1 TD. Cole Morris 3-6-0 49 yards 1 TD. LIN: AJ Bart 16-24-2 151 yards 1 TD.
Receiving – NM: Cyrus Collins 4-42 1 TD, Karter Parson 2-42 1 TD, Landyn Stemple 1-15, Brian Poindexter 2-12. LIN: Aidan Rice 8-99 1 TD, Jacob Bart 4-43, Connor Rice 2-9, Trenton Hardesty 1-2, Landon Swiger 1-(-2).
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
NM – Cyrus Collins 12-yard pass from Toby Michael (Brady Anderson kick)
Second Quarter
NM – Toby Michael 31-yard run (Anderson kick)
NM – Cole Morris 3-yard run (Anderson kick)
NM – Brian Poindexter 1-yard run (pass failed)
NM – Karter Parson 33-yard pass from Morris (Anderson kick)
Third Quarter
LIN – Aidan Rice 19-yard pass from AJ Bart (Preston Olan kick)
Fourth Quarter
NM – Jacob Kucish 12-yard run (run failed)
