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WELLSBURG -- The Brooke Bruins' defensive display Friday at Brooke Memorial Stadium was reminiscent of the teams of old.
Facing the Ohio Valley's leading passer in University's Luke Hudson, the Bruins forced five turnovers, including a 24-yard pick six from Gavin Moore in the first quarter in holding off the Hawks 14-9.
Then, trailing 9-7 in the fourth, quarterback Braelyn Sperringer ripped off a 30-yard run to put the Bruins ahead for good.
The resulting win pushed Brooke to 3-0 entering Friday's meeting with unbeaten North Marion down in Rachel.
The Huskies (2-0) are coming off a bye week after dismantling Preston 41-0 in Kingwood back on Sept. 1. Their other victory came against East Fairmont in the season opener, 55-24.
Against the Knights, North Marion held a sizable 402-108 advantage in total yards, with five different Huskies finding the end zone.
Nearly 250 yards came via the ground, with Aaron Hoffman churning up 119 yards and two scores on just eight carries. Quarterback Casey Minor ran for 51 yards, but also connected on three scoring strikes, finishing with 148 yards on 10 of 15 passing.
Brooke, meanwhile, did most of its damage against University via the pass, with Sperringer throwing for 216 yards while 30 of the ground game's 50 yards came on Sperringer's late touchdown run.
Head coach Mac McLean and company will be looking for a bit more balance against North Marion. His team doesn't want a repeat of 2022's 14-0 loss to the Huskies at Brooke Memorial.
This is game No. 2 of what is a difficult four-game stretch for the Bruins, and the only one of the four that will be played outside of Brooke County.
After the North Marion contest, Brooke returns home to face Watkins Memorial, a Division II school from Pataskala that is currently 3-1. After that, powerful Bridgeport (W.Va.) will come calling with its physical, ground and pound brand of offensive football.
That's followed by a visit from Oak Glen before Brooke hits the road again.