Patriots look to keep momentum going against Benton
Marion plays host in pivotal 6A East matchup tonight
Marion School District Nobody on the Marion football coaching staff has his doctorate at the moment, but each has earned plenty of experience working in a MASH unit over the past two weeks.
Marion won 34-8 last Friday night at 6A East rival Greene County Tech despite seven starters missing all or most of the game. “We battled a ton of adversity leading up to the game, and certainly during the game, but credit our kids for handling it extremely well,” said second-year Marion head football coach Lance Clark. “We didn’t play a perfect game, but based on the situation that we were in, it was very encouraging. The best part of Tech was we showed some resiliency. That’s what wasn’t there against Wynne. We showed we could handle tough situations in a difficult setting without some key players.
When you’re down some key guys like we were the other day, you have to win on the margins, and I thought we did a great job there.”
Marion coaches feared the worst two Saturdays ago after beating Jacksonville 49-18 when quarterback Ashton Gray informed them that his knee was hurting him. The junior went for an MRI Tuesday morning, when Clark and his staff began to make contingency plans in case Gray was not available for the Tech contest.
That contingency plan came into focus when coaches shifted emerging sophomore tailback Jalen Smith to QB for Tuesday’s practice. The decision was made because Smith started a few games as a freshman at QB in junior high, but
Continued on Page 11
Photo by Londa Hamrick
