Elkins rallies past No. 2 North Marion for 41-24 win
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ELKINS – Jaden Hatfield ran for 180 yards and three touchdowns as Class AAA, No. 5 Elkins rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to knock off No. 2 North Marion for a 41-24 win Friday night in Big 10 Conference action at Tiger Stadium.
Trailing 24-7 at intermission, the Tigers (6-1, 6-0 Big 10) reeled off 34 unanswered points in the second half. After forcing a turnover on downs on the Huskies’ opening possession of the third quarter, Seth Robinson capped off a 10-play, 83-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown that made it 24-14 with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
After forcing a punt on the Huskies’ ensuing drive, the Tigers cut the lead to 24-20 when Hatfield raced in for a 24-yard touchdown with 11:22 left to play in the game.
Elkins took its first lead of the game when Hatfield scored his second touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run, making it 27-24 with 8:21 left in regulation.
After the Tigers’ Xavier Workman recovered a fumbled punt return, Hatfield found the end zone again on an 11-yard run that pushed Elkins’ lead to 34-24 with just 2:01 to play.
Workman then intercepted a pass from North Marion’s Kolson Brown on North Marion’s next possession and Hatfield iced the win when he rumbled in for a 32-yard touchdown with 59 seconds remaining.
The Huskies (5-1, 5-1) jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the contest when Brian Poindexter capped off a 7-play, 53-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run at the 6:57 mark of the first quarter.
North Marion then extended its lead to 15-0 at the start of the second quarter when Brown threw a touchdown pass to Colton Campbell.
The Huskies’ Colby Vangilder then intercepted a Cyrus Kump pass to set up a 26-yard field goal from Cooper Williams that gave North Marion an 18-0 lead with 5:41 remaining in the first half.
The Tigers got on the scoreboard and cut the deficit to 18-7 at the 3:42 mark of the second quarter when Kump crossed the goal line for a 4-yard touchdown.
North Marion answered on its ensuing drive when Brown connected with Jacob Kucish for a 25-yard touchdown that gave the visitors a 24-7 lead at the half. .
Elkins is idle next week and will return to action on Oct. 23 when it travels to Fairmont Senior. The Huskies will entertain Lewis County next Friday.