Patriots come back against Hurricane to seal home playoff game

Marion costs Jonesboro conference title with big win

Marion School District “Trust the process, baby.”

That’s what Marion coach Keith Houston had to say about his team’s improbable comeback win over the Jonesboro Golden Hurricane (7-3 overall, 5-2 6A East). The Patriots (6-4, 5-2) scored 27 points in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game that gave Marion its third straight win over the ‘Canes.

“This is a resilient group of kids,” Houston said.

“They don’t go down easily and they do what we ask of them. We’ve talked about overcoming adversity with them all year.”

Jonesboro scored 10 points in the third and started the fourth quarter with a safety to take a 19-7 lead after being tied at seven at halftime. It looked like the Hurricane were about to put the game away, but the Pats still had some fight left in them, led by junior linebacker and running back Antonio Grays.

Three plays after the safety, the ‘Canes fumbled the ball inside Patriot territory and Grays was the perfect person to recover the ball.

The speedy two-way player sprinted downfield for a 63-yard scoop-and-score to make it only a 19-14 Jonesboro lead.

Up by five, Jonesboro failed to convert on fourthand- two from the Marion 28, giving the Pats great field position with over six minutes left to play. Grays found the endzone five plays later from a yard out.

The following two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but Marion had taken a 20-19 lead that seemed impossible at the beginning of the quarter.

Jonesboro looked ready to drive down the field on the following possession, but a fumbled handoff at the Marion 48 gave the Pats the ball right back. Four plays later, Grays completed the hat-trick with a 38-yard touchdown to give the Pats a 27-19 lead.

The ‘Canes caught the celebrating Pats off-guard two plays later with a 75yard touchdown pass to trim the lead. The unsuccessful two-point conversion that followed made it a 27-25 game.

Jonesboro’s onside kick attempt went out of bounds before it went ten yards, so the Pats again had great field position to begin a fourth quarter drive. Six plays into the drive, on fourth-and-three from the Jonesboro eight-yard line, Marion decided to pass to senior receiver Slade Webb instead of chancing a field goal on the cold, windy night.

Webb hauled in the eightyard score to once again extend the Marion lead, this time with just over a minute to play. The ‘Canes tried to march down field, but seven plays into the drive, Jonesboro quarterback Cross Jumper was sacked by senior Brandon Calvert as time expired to seal the Patriots’ comeback.

Marion secured the threeseed in the state tournament with the win, meaning they will have a home playoff game in the first round of the playoffs this Friday. However, the Marion win may have meant more for the ‘Canes who dropped all the way from the top-seed to the fourth because of the loss, giving Searcy the conference title.

Marion’s first round opponent will come from a town just east of Oklahoma, Siloam Springs (4-6, 3-4).

Kickoff for the first-ever gridiron contest between the schools on Friday, Nov. 15, is scheduled for 7 p.m.