By Sean McNamara
RACHEL – As they have throughout the postseason, the North Marion Huskies tallied another runaway victory Saturday in the state semifinals against Weir, defeating the Red Riders, 48-14, and earning a spot in the Class AA state championship game.
North Marion’s opponent will be Fairmont Senior, a fellow Marion County school that sits 10 miles down Route 250. The game will serve as both a rematch of Week 6 of the 2023 campaign (FSHS winning, 54-36) and the 1981 Class AAA state championship game (NMHS winning, 21-6).
Propelling the Huskies, who return to the title game for the first time since 1997, to victory Saturday was quarterback and linebacker Casey Minor, who ran for 155 yards and three touchdowns while completing 5-of-7 passes for 97 yards and two scores.
“I couldn’t do anything without my front five,” Minor said. “They did a great job giving me the space to run, and I couldn’t do it without them.”
The Huskies got things started quickly Saturday as Minor connected on a 55-yard touchdown pass to Brock Martin less than two minutes into the game to put the home team up, 6-0.
The Red Riders responded on the ensuing drive, using 46 rushing yards on the drive from quarterback Malachi Stromile to set up a 6-yard TD pass from Stromile to Daniel Howland to put Weir up, 7-6, following Ben Howard’s PAT.
Once again, the Huskies’ offense operated quickly, answering the Red Rider TD with a score of their own, this one coming on a 5-yard run from Minor to put NMHS up, 13-7, after Brady Anderson’s PAT.
That same score would hold until early in the second quarter when a 16-yard pass from Stromile to Howland on fourth down got the Red Riders down to the NM 1, where Corey Lyons III would cap off the drive with a 1-yard TD run, making the score 14-13, Weir.
Helping extend that drive was the escapability of Stromile, who kept the Huskies on their heels throughout the game with his ability to avoid tackles and extend plays in the backfield.
“He’s Houdini out there,” North Marion coach Daran Hays said of Stromile. “He moves around. He’s elusive as can be. He’s signaling for guys to run routes I’m not sure he’s ever planning on throwing. I think he’s just trying to get our guys to slow down.”
Now trailing by one, the switch flipped for the Huskies who dominated the game the rest of the way.
The first step in the takeover came on the next drive with Minor scoring on a 55-yard TD run to give the Huskies the lead, 20-14, and they wouldn’t look back the rest of the way.
A key interception and 25-yard return by Landon Frey on the ensuing Weir possession gave the Huskies the ball back, allowing Minor to orchestrate a drive into the red zone and ultimately find Jeffrey Cowger with an 18-yard TD pass to extend the lead to 27-14 at the half.
“That brought a lot of momentum to us,” Frey said of the key interception. “But I couldn’t have pick without the rest of my guys doing their jobs on the back end – getting pressure on the quarterback and the linebackers dropping and doing their jobs.”
In the second half, it was all Huskies.
Offensively, Minor scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on a 48-yard run, putting NMHS up, 34-14, and, thanks to the play of the Husky defense, putting the game out of reach.
“I thought we played really well,” Hays said. “I was really proud of our fourth-quarter effort. We haven’t had that all year. I thought we came out of halftime and played like our hair was on fire. That all starts with 10 (Minor).”
In the fourth quarter, Frey lined up twice in the backfield, and each time found the endzone on running plays of 81 and 13 yards, respectively, to bring the final score to 48-14.
Behind Minor, Frey was the team’s second-leading rusher with 94 yards on two carries.
“I credit the line right there,” Frey said. “I couldn’t have done it without those guys. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t what I would do.”
Other statistical contributors for North Marion on offense were Aaron Hoffman who ran for 81 yards on nine carries and Martin, who caught three passes for a game-high 69 yards.
On defense, Cowger tallied two sacks of Stromile, while Trevor Mullett pulled down a late interception to help seal the win.
Stromile led the Weir offense with 116 rushing yards on 20 carries to go along with 56 passing yards on 9-of-14 passing attempts with a touchdown and the two picks.
Lyons ran for 80 yards on 19 carries with a score while Devan Colson caught a team-high four passes for 21 yards for the Red Riders, who end their season with an 11-2 record.
Now, as North Marion heads to Wheeling Island to take on their county rivals from Fairmont Senior, Hays and the Huskies plan to stick to what’s worked for them all year in terms of preparation.
“We have a process that’s been good to us,” Hays said. “It starts with acting like you’ve been there before and preparing for everybody like it’s the state championship caliber game. I think we’ve done that. We’ve locked in on each individual week. I think it’s really important this week to not let emotions get the best of you. We’re going to be tight. We’re going to be nervous. They’ve been there before. We’re going to be playing as the underdog, and even though we haven’t been that a lot this year, I kind of approach everything with a chip on my shoulder mentality. I learned that from the two guys who coached me (Roy Michael and Gerry White).”
Minor, who was not fully healthy the first time the two squads matched up two months ago, said he’s ready to take on the Polar Bears again and understands what a state championship would mean to his school and community.
“It means the most for me,” Minor said of making it to the state championship game. “It’s been a while since North went there, and with all the work we’ve put in we totally deserve it. I’m so proud.”
NORTH MARION 48 WEIR 14
NM;WEIR
First Downs;15;14
Rushing Yards;361;210
Passing Yards;97;56
Total Yards;458;266
Passing;5-7-0;9-14-1
Fumbles;0;0
Fumbles Lost;0;0
Penalties;4-45;6-45
Individual Stats
Rushing: NM: Casey Minor 11-155 3 TD, Aaron Hoffman 9-81, Landon Frey 2-94 2 TD, Elijah Armour 6-19, Trevor Mullett 3-12. Totals: 31-461. WEIR: Malachi Stromile 20-116, Corey Lyons III 19-80 1 TD, Thomas Davidson 3-11, Devan Colson 1-2, Izaigha George 1-1. Totals: 44-210.
Passing: NM: Casey Minor 5-7-0 97 yards 2 TD. WEIR: Malachi Stromile 9-14-2 56 yards 1 TD.
Receiving: NM: Brock Martin 3-69 1 TD, Jeffrey Cowger 1-18 1 TD, Landon Frey 1-10. WEIR: Devan Colson 4-21, Daniel Howland 2-22 1 TD, Damir Mowder 1-1, Corey Lyons III 2-12.
NM;;13;14;7;14;;48
WEIR;;7;7;0;0;;14
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
NM – Brock Martin 55-yard pass from Casey Minor (kick failed)
WEIR – Daniel Howland 6-yard pass from Malachi Stromile (Ben Howard kick)
NM – Casey Minor 5-yard run (Brady Anderson kick)
Second Quarter
WEIR – Corey Lyons III 1-yard run (Howard kick)
NM – Minor 55-yard run (Anderson kick)
NM – Jeffrey Cowger 18-yard pass from Minor (Anderson kick)
Third Quarter
NM – Minor 48-yard run (Anderson kick)
Fourth Quarter
NM – Landon Frey 81-yard run (Anderson kick)
NM – Frey 13-yard run (Anderson kick)
