Celebrating North Marion’s Football Team

By Jillian Daley

Seeing the North Marion Football Team regain its strength has been like watching an incredible game that lasted for three seasons.

Remembering How It Happened

The tough part:

• In 2020, the team’s season was delayed, then the team only got to play six games. 

The tougher part:

• In 2021, the team had shrunken, down to a scant 25 players and no junior varsity team.
• Then they were hit hard with a winless season. 
• There had been a new coach each year. Enter Head Coach Michael Bicknell, hired late in the school year. He strives to rally the team.

The tide-turning part: 

• The Head Coach stands by his team, remaining for a second season.
• In 2022, the number of players doubles.
• A junior varsity team is re-established.
• The varsity team takes home three wins!

To what does North Marion owe this tide turning?

• Bicknell has been a constant, staying with North Marion for two seasons. Plus, he says he’s planning to come back for season 2023.
• The players: Never. Gave. Up.

Honoring the Players

Bicknell said his players put in a heroic effort, with Marcus Ledesma, Landon Fowler, Reece Hartenstein, and Josiah Texta demonstrating amazing catches and runs on the field. Then there was Esmerelda Pacheco Contreras, the first female player to ever letter in football at North Marion, and she inspired her teammates and coaches with her courage as a lineman, Bicknell noted. 

Hartenstein and Texta are proud of the team’s growth.

“Our football season, to me, was a success,” said Texta, a senior. “We had amazing players this year, and I want to say thank you to everyone who stuck with us from last year to this year: We couldn't have done it without you. We had guys with double stats; we won games; and our morale was through the roof.”

Hartenstein, a sophomore, is looking forward to the 2023 season.

“The football coaching staff did a good job of encouraging more kids to come out and play, which improved the team and gave us more numbers,” Hartenstein said, “and I hope we can get more kids to come out and play next year.”

Sharing a Coach’s Heartfelt Love for His Team

Looking forward to season 2023, Bicknell said that he will be focusing on running plays, training players, and brainstorming strategies with his assistant coaches, of course. However, his main focus will always be on encouraging the student-athletes themselves.

“The wins and losses are great, but it’s more about: How do we affect each other?” said Bicknell, who has been coaching for 17 years. “How do we work with each other and how does that make us a better person on the campus and in the community? That’s the ultimate goal, that we’re making great student athletes who will become great men and women in the future.”

That’s how North Marion wins on its own terms, demonstrating growth despite tough odds over three seasons, with the help of a consistent coach and diehard players.

To share story ideas on the North Marion School District, please email Communications Specialist Jillian Daley at jillian.daley@nmarion.k12.or.us.