Collecting 20 disposals, 35 hit-outs, 5 clearances and 6 inside 50's, Mabon's game was labelled 'terrific' by North development coach Josh Drummond.
"It was definitely his best game of the year," Drummond told NMFC.com.au.
"He marked the ball really well and was great in the ruck with his tap work.
"We had him floating behind the footy when the ball was in Essendon's forward half and he got into some really good positions."
Mabon also kicked a tremendous long-range goal, sending a torpedo 70 metres on the quarter time siren.
Luke Delaney collected 13 disposals to go with his 10 spoils and adjusted well to the late withdrawal of Essendon's Joe Daniher, his planned match-up.
"It was a pretty tricky day with the wind making hard for the defenders to time their runs at the contest," Drummond added.
"We thought he (Delaney) defended really well and helped out the group when it was under pressure."
Max Warren collected 22 disposals, and was prominent in both the first and last quarters.
"Maxy did some really good things. He was good in the one-on-one contests and took a few nice intercept marks.
"He'll learn a lot from the conditions and how he used the ball today."
Mitch Wilkins spent time on Essendon-listed player Cory Dell'Olio and was able to keep the goal sneak quiet while gathering 13 touches of his own.
"For the most part Mitch kept his man pretty quiet which was pretty pleasing.
"We'll work with him on concentration. You can make a mistake further up the field and it doesn't hurt you that much but as a defender the stakes are higher."
Playing on a wing, Brad McKenzie (10 possessions) was a victim of the tough conditions.
"With the heavy breeze he got stuck playing on the other wing so the ball wasn't on his side of the ground for most of the day."
Ben Jacobs was taken off at half-time as a precaution after suffering a knock to his knee.
Aaron Black sat out as an emergency for North Melbourne's clash with Hawthorn on Sunday.
North Ballarat 3.2.20, 5.5.35, 7.7.49, 8.12.60
Essendon 1.0.6, 8.5.53, 12.9.81, 14.13.97
Goals
North Ballarat: Darmody 2, Austin 1, Cook 1, George 1, Harvey 1, Linke 1, Mabon 1
Essendon: Bate 2, Brancatisano 2, Kavanagh 2, Melksham 2, O'Brien 2, Sikora 1, Dell'Olio 1, Jetta 1, Shinners 1
