Fairmont Senior wins AA state football championship, 49-48 over cross county rival North Marion
By Nick Henthorn, for the Times West Virginian
WHEELING, W.Va. — North Marion and Fairmont Senior play every year, but they had not played in the state championship since 1981. In their first meetup in over 40 years, the two teams made history.
In a game in which each defining moment was swiftly topped by an even greater one, the crescendo of Friday’s Class-AA State Championship game at Wheeling Island Stadium was a goal line stop on a two-point attempt by the Fairmont Senior defense, a play which secured the Polar Bears their fourth championship in six years in a 49-48 victory.
“We’ve had a couple come down right to the end but for a state championship game, I don’t know, with 14 seconds left in the game, to get a two-point stop in the championship game, no I don’t think we had to do that,” Fairmont Senior head coach Nick Bartic said.
Fairmont Senior’s Dylan Ours had a title game-record six rushing touchdowns in the final game of his career, also collecting eight tackles on defense.
“That’s what he does, he’s the most versatile player in the state,” Bartic said of Ours.
North Marion’s Aaron Hoffman finished with 233 rushing yards and four touchdowns in a title game that seemed to always find a new gear to shift into.
