Taste of playoff success has Kincell, Boone eager for senior years

Last season, they crushed Grafton, 64-14, in the program’s first home playoff game and victory in 20 years before falling to perennial power Bluefield, 35-21, in the second round.

Senior lineman Landon Boone and running back/wide receiver/safety Parker Kincell are confident that rise will continue in 2022.

“We’ve been doing pretty well. We’ve had a couple of rough practices, but that’s always going to happen,” Kincell said. “I feel good about this season.”

“I think it was pretty good, honestly,” Boone said of the team’s offseason and preseason work. “We’ve been having up-and-down practices, but we’ve just got to keep going forward and get better every day.”

North Marion allowed 93 points in the regular season last year in nine games; only No. 1 seed Herbert Hoover gave up fewer in Class AA.

So, it’s not a surprise that the Huskies will hang their hats on that side of the ball. again

“Defense. 110 percent our defense. We’ve got a lot of experienced guys coming back,” Kincell said. “We have a lot of experience everywhere.”

“Our physicality is one big thing. We need to be strong because we’re dealing with guys on other teams that have a lot of size. Most of our guys are smaller, but physicality is our strong suit,” Boone said.

And success there feeds the other side of the ball: “That plays a big role in field position. I think our defense is really going to help our offense out and keep it high and motivated,” Kincell said.

The graduation of all-state wide receiver Tariq Miller has created a void that Kincell hopes to fill.

“I’ve worked on my agility, getting faster, making harder cuts. Last year, I didn’t play a lot of receiver because we had (Tariq), but I want to step up to be the guy,” Kincell said.

Kincell embraces being part of a Husky offense that throws the ball more than most teams.

“It’s nice, because when you get to catch the ball and run the ball, you have more time (on the field),” Kincell said.

“Tempo is important,” Boone said. “We want our opponents to get tired.”

Boone is also taking on a larger role.

“I think our line’s pretty decent right now. We lost a lot of guys from last year like Logan (Musgrave) and Kaden (Hovatter), but we’ve improved a lot. I think we’ll be fine,” Boone said.

What has been the focus in making that growth happen?

“Hand placements. That’s what our coaches have told us,” Boone said. “They’ve done a really good job of showing us that. I’m here to make my teammates better as well.”

As has become tradition in recent years, North Marion will open with county rival East Fairmont, making the trip to East-West Stadium for the first time in the series since 2018.

“We’ve just to keep practicing hard leading up to it,” Boone said. “Hopefully, we can get a good win.”

North Marion has won the last six meetings and are 34-8 overall in the matchup since consolidation formed NMHS before the 1979 season.

“We’re smaller than most people, so I think we’re in better shape,” Kincell said. “I think we’re going to wear some teams down.”