Signature win in Searcy

Signature win in Searcy

Marion wins second straight league game

Sports Editor SEARCY — In his third season as the head football coach at Marion, Jed Davis has been in constant search of a signature win that his Patriots could hang their collective hats on for confirmation that their program is trending in the right direction.

It's still early yet in 2016, but Davis may have gotten his wish last Friday night.

Marion won its first conference road game in nearly a year by throttling Searcy 35-14 at Lion Stadium to improve to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the 6AEast.

'The coaches and I had a long talk earlier this week about how we needed a big win for this group. I was proud of the way we practiced Monday through Thursday,' Davis said after the game. 'We overcame a lot of stuff tonight. The effort and the preparation by our players and coaches was excellent all week. I can't say enough about those guys.'

The win was Marion's second straight in league play, and that 2-1 mark against the conference has them in a four-way tie for second place in the 6AEast with Searcy (5-1 overall, 2-1 6A-East), Pine Bluff (3-2, 2-1) and West Memphis (4-2, 2-1).

The top two teams from the 6A-East will get a bye in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs, and the third and fourth teams will host a playoff game in the first round.

Aiding Marion's cause was the effort of senior running back Tom Young, who carried 32 times for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns. Young's scoring runs went for 20, 35 and 67 yards.

While Young carried the mail for Marion later in the night, it was the passing game of the Pats that got them on the board first against the Lions.

Junior quarterback Peyton Walker was 4-for-4 for 62 yards on Marion's opening drive, which culminated with a 20-yard touchdown pass to classmate Taylor Brown. Brown and senior Collin Chambers each caught two balls apiece on the 8-play, 80-yard drive.

Searcy would tie the game at 7-all on its first drive but it would come up empty on a 14-play, 57yard drive where the Lions turned the ball over on downs deep inside Marion territory. The Marion defense would force 5 Searcy turnover on downs, while linebacker Quinton Wilson came up with two sacks and sophomore cornerback

Kenta Jones intercepted a pass in the third

quarter.

'Our defense really, really rose to the challenge tonight,' Davis said.

'Searcy's offense had been scoring bunches of points the first five weeks, and tons of yards. Our gameplan all week was to make them beat us by throwing it deep. We weren't sure if they could consistently do it, but I thought we executed that plan very well.'

Marion took the lead for good on the final play of the first quarter when Young scored his first touchdown of the night, bolting 67 yards on a draw play before Bradford Doherty's extra point gave the Pats a 14-7 lead entering the second quarter.

The Pats surged ahead 21- 7 on the strength of a 12play, 90-yard drive that was capped off by a 20yard Young run with 5:10 left in the half.

That drive featured Walker going 5 of 6 passing for 40 yards and Young running 4 times for 43 yards.

Marion led 21-7 at halftime.

Late in the third quarter, Searcy got within 21-14, which was the score entering the fourth quarter.

With 10:39 left in regulation, Marion embarked on a 7-play, 55-yard touchdown drive that Young cashed in with a twistingand- turning 35-yard touchdown run that helped the Pats double up the Lions at 28-14.

'You look at that run on film and I don't know how many guys he made miss, but it was impressive,' Davis said of his back.

'He's so hard to square up and get a good hit and the offensive line got going tonight too. They've really come a long way from week 1 and the preseason.' Walker clinched the final score with an 8-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

Marion still has key games remaining on its schedule against Pine Bluff and Jonesboro, though both are on the road.

'Coming on the road against a Searcy team that was 4-1, I mean, that's a big win,' says Davis. 'The best part is that we won tonight by 13 points. We lost to West Memphis by 12 and Searcy beat them by 7. As of right now, we own the points tiebreaker, as long as nothing fluky happens.'

Marion snapped a fourgame losing streak to Searcy with the win.

Marion will celebrate its homecoming on Friday night when they host the Mountain Home Bombers.

Note: Searcy is now 4- 2 on the field, but benefited from a forfeit by Morrilton earlier in the week, making their record now 5- 1 offi-cially.

By Chuck Livingston