North Marion aspires to end the streak and stay unbeaten. Fairmont Senior strives to continue its two decade long dominance against a Marion County rival, while getting its season steered in the right direction.
The Class AAA No. 3 Huskies welcome the No. 15 Polar Bears at 7 p.m. Friday in the MetroNews Television Game of the Week. Pregame coverage starts at 6:30 p.m.
The Polar Bears have won 23 straight games in the series with the Huskies, though with a 1-2 record as opposed to the Huskies’ 3-0 mark, Fairmont Senior finds itself in the rare spot of being an underdog — at least to some — ahead of this matchup.
WATCH FAIRMONT SENIOR @ NORTH MARION ON METRONEWS TV
Three keys to watch for Friday:
- Forget history
This mainly applies to the Huskies, but can also come into play for the Polar Bears.
North Marion’s had several close calls recently against FSHS, including a one-point loss in the 2023 Class AA title game and last season’s 27-21 overtime setback, which the Polar Bears scored the final 13 points of.
The Huskies undoubtedly have heard and regularly hear about the program’s 23 straight losses to Fairmont Senior, one can assume they’d like nothing more than to stop hearing about it.
All of the past lopsided and close losses to the Polar Bears, however, don’t mean much, if anything, as it pertains to this particular matchup. NMHS simply needs to control what it can and try to outperform Fairmont Senior, while the Polar Bears will be sorely mistaken if they think past success in this series guarantees more of it at present.
- Control emotions
A lot of emotion comes into play when two schools from the same county separated by a mere 10 miles square off.
Add to it that a victory for North Marion would ensure the Huskies complete 40 percent of their regular season without a loss and that the Polar Bears are out to avoid a 1-3 start, and there’s sure to be plenty more of it in this one.
The team that better handles emotions instead of being overcome by them in key spots will have a significant advantage.
- Rise up when it matters most
There have been recent close calls in this series and that could very well be the case again this time around.
North Marion has largely been defensive-minded to start the season, having allowed 42 points across three games, and sealing a 28-23 win against Philip Barbour last week with the second of Jacob Kusich’s two interceptions.
The Huskies will be tasked with trying to slow Polar Bears’ quarterback Anthony Smith in this one, but if their offense can maintain possession and sustain drives, that would go a long way toward benefitting the team’s defense as well.
Kusich also heavily factors into the offensive plan, as evidenced by his seven receptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns against the Colts.
FSHS had early season struggles defending the pass in losses to Herbert Hoover and Robert C. Byrd and will need to improve in that area to slow NMHS.