— By Luke Wiggs
RACHEL, W.Va. — Fairmont Senior started the season fast, then opened up a comfortable lead after halftime Friday night in a 41-21 win at North Marion.
The Polar Bears could not have gotten off to a better start with Kieshawn Cottingham returning the opening kick 93 yards for the score.
It was the Huskies who struck next, however, with a 13-play drive capped off by Brody Hall’s 1-yard quarterback sneak. North Marion (1-1) struck again 2 minutes later as Hall hooked up with his top receiver — Tariq Miller — for a remarkable 61-yard touchdown reception that was bobbled before it was caught.
A Gage Michael touchdown run cut the North Marion lead to 14-12 before Hunter Kuhn extended the Huskies’ advantage to 21-12 thanks to a 2-yard scamper with 9:04 left in the second quarter.
It was all Fairmont Senior from that point on as the Polar Bears (1-0) scored the next 29 points.
Michael and Cottingham each added scores before the half, which gave FSHS a 26-21 lead at the break.
Michael inevitably added two more rushing TDs in the second half to give him four scores in the contest.
Michael had 204 yards through the air and completed 13-of-21 passes with one interception. His 238 yards on the ground allowed him to account for 442 of Fairmont’s 506 total yards.
Hall threw for 210 yards and a score while rushing for 57 yards and two TDs.