Marion routs Jacksonville

Marion routs Jacksonville

Patriots shut out Jacksonville 56- 0

Marion School District Senior night was a success for the Marion Patriots (7-2 overall, 4-2 6A conference) who crushed the visiting Jacksonville Titans (3-6, 15). Marion’s 56-0 win is the largest margin of victory this season for any 6A team. “When we put together four good days of practice, I expect us to play well and that was exactly what happened this week,” said Marion coach Keith Houston. “The coaches all came up with great schemes and the players executed them. It was a great team win.”

A pregame ceremony celebrated the 20 senior football players and seniors from other fall sports, as well as the senior cheerleaders and band members. Although it is the first year at Marion for the majority of the coaching staff, they have a lot of respect for the senior class.

“When you take a job like this, you never know how the seniors on their way out will respond, but these kids have been great,” said Houston. “I’ve built some genuine relationships with these kids and I’ll be talking to them 10-15 years down the road.”

“I’m going to miss these guys,” said defensive coordinator Jamie Carter. “The seniors bought into our program and inspired the underclassmen to do the same. This is a great group of guys.”

The Patriot defense outmatched the Titans the entire night, holding them to 115 total yards on 41 plays.

They also made seven tackles for loss and forced five turnovers.

“The defense has been great all year,” said Marion offensive coordinator Zach Tribble. “Those turnovers help us flip momentum and give us an extra chance to score.”

Marion quarterback Daedrick Cail had another solid performance, completing 13 of his 14 passes for 219 yards and five touchdowns. All 14 passes were thrown in the first half.

“I had a great week in practice,” said Cail. “I’m just trying to do my job to give my team the best chance to win.”

The Pats ran the ball 20 times with six different runners combining for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

The leading rusher was Anthony Price with 67 yards and a touchdown on four carries.

Marion’s offense gained 371 total yards in their 35 plays, extending their streak of 300+ total yards to five games. Marion’s seventh win is also their most wins in the regular season since the seven regular season wins of 2011.

The Patriots started senior night with the ball and did not take long to find the endzone. Senior Kenta Jones scored on a jet sweep from 27 yards out to cap a four-play, 61 yard drive 59 seconds into the game.

Jacksonville had the ball for three plays before Marion senior linebacker Xavier Collier pounced on a fumble to give the Pats the ball at the Jacksonville 20 yard line.

On the following play, senior receiver Joyrion Chase threw a touchdown pass to Cayden Hunt off of a fake reverse to give Marion a 140 lead just 2:37 into the game.

The Titans’ snapped the ball nine times on their next drive, but managed to gain no yards as they made their way to their 44 yard line before punting. Two fifteen yard penalties against Marion gave the Titans two first downs.

Kenta’s 25 yard return on the punt gave Marion the ball inside Jacksonville territory at the 46 yard line.

Cail completed all three of his passes in the ensuing six-play drive and capped it off with a nine-yard pass to Chase in the back-corner of the endzone.

Trailing 21-0, the Titans would cough the ball up again three plays into their next drive and give Marion the ball at the Jacksonville 44 yard line. The second fumble was picked up by Marion junior linebacker Dylan Chappell.

The Patriots scored four plays later on a 35-yard pass from Cail to Chase. Marion led the Titans 28-0 after the first quarter.

Jacksonville’s next possession ended in a punt after seven plays. A Marion penalty gave them another first down, but four tackles for loss, including a sack by Brandon Calvert and Josh Green, were too much for the Titans to overcome.

Hunt would snag his second touchdown catch six plays later on a 38-yard pass from Cail.

The Patriots gained an extra possession after a sack by Antonio Brown caused a fumble that Antonio Grays was able to snag. Marion would then score on a 30yard pass from Cail to Markel Wynn before the end of the half.

The Patriots went into the locker room at halftime with a 42-0 lead and 272 yards of offense on 24 plays. The Titans gained only 54 yards after two quarters.

Marion’s second half touchdowns were both runs in the third quarter. Price scored from 59 yards out on a three play drive, and Wynn ran from the wildcat formation for a nine-yard touchdown.

Coach Carter’s defense forced two more turnovers in the second half off of a fumble and an interception that was made by senior Andrew Hampton.

Up next for the Patriots is a Thursday night contest against the Jonesboro Golden Hurricane (6-3, 6-1). The final regular season game at Hurricane Stadium will determine playoff seedings, but it also offers a chance for the Patriots to tie a team record.

If the Patriots defeat the Hurricane, the eighth regular season win would be the most since 2005. The 2005 squad won nine games including the playoffs and featured then junior linebacker Jerry Franklin, who is currently the second leading tackler in Razorback football history.

A win would also make October Marion’s first fourwin month since September 2011. Kickoff from Jonesboro this Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. A livestream will be available for free at marionpatriots.com, and radio coverage will be on 92.5 FM.

By Tyler Bennett