Marion looks to remain undefeated in 6A East play
Patriots set sights on Sheridan tonight
By Chuck Livingston
Marion School District
In exactly one play last Friday night in Marion’s 51-30 victory at Jonesboro, the ability and development of the Patriots’ offensive backfield was on full display.
MHS junior quarterback Zayden Walker, making his seventh career varsity start, took the snap from the pistol and faked a handoff to tailback Rico Ward.
Walker ran a bootleg to his right towards the Marion sideline and accurately fired a pass downfield to sophomore Jeremiah Dent, who had beaten the Jonesboro secondary.
Dent collected the Walker pass in stride and scored a touchdown that gave Marion a 14-3 lead early in the second period.
In short, Marion’s (6-1 overall, 4-0 6A East) offensive backfield all did their part to keep the Pats in first place in the 6A East.
Walker completed 11 of 17 passes at Jonesboro for 144 yards and the 48-yard TD toss to Dent, who is a tailback by trade, but started at Jonesboro at receiver. Dent caught four passes for 77 yards and a TD, and he also rushed for 21 yards and another score.
Ward “had his best game at Marion by far,” said Marion coach Lance Clark. “He did all the stuff we needed, and then some.” Ward rushed for 93 yards and a TD last Friday night.
That’s not to mention Marion’s two-time all-state tailback Jalen Smith, who broke the school’s all-time rushing record in Craighead County, rushing for 126 yards and a TD.
Smith has rushed for 3,671 yards in his career, more than seven yards per carry.
“Obviously, a great night for our offensive backfield, and we always knew they were capable of this,” said Clark, in his fourth year at Marion.
“These guys are special. They work hard, they’re competitive, and we know we will need them to continue producing like this if we get to where we want to be.”
Walker entered 2024 in the shadow of 2023 all-state quarterback Ashton Gray, who signed with North Texas in February. Walker impressed coaches guiding the junior varsity team a season ago and he had a great off-season.
Walker had an uneven start to 2024, however as Marion’s passing game did not take off after the scrimmage and three non-conference games.
“We knew there was more there than how we had been playing,” said Clark. “Zayden struggled to start the year, but he put in the work and has gotten better every week since the bye.”
Walker shared snaps with sophomore QB Max Molloy the week of Marion’s conference opener against Sylvan Hills, and while a torrential downpour limited the passing attack’s counting numbers, Marion’s coaches felt Walker had turned a corner.
In October, the junior had victories at El Dorado, over West Memphis, and at Jonesboro, where he completed more than 62 percent of his passes for 468 yards and three touchdowns with just two interceptions.
“He’s just continued to grow every week, and that’s the exciting thing,” said Clark. “It’s a big credit to Zayden and (Offensive Coordinator) Coach Zach Tribble. Those guys kept working and focusing and it’s paid off.”
Sophomore quarterback Max Molloy has also impressed coaches with his work ethic.
Molloy helped Marion close out Harding Academy when Walker left injured, and he threw his first career TD pass two weeks ago against West Memphis.
“You can’t say enough about Max,” said Clark. “He’s invested in this team. He shows
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up ready to work. He’s just a good athlete, and he’s one who’s going to have a big role moving forward because we have to have him out there.”
Smith exploded onto the scene as a freshman in 2021.
After leading the junior high that season in rushing and touchdowns, he was promoted to the varsity for the playoffs and he took his first handoff 62 yards for a touchdown in Marion’s 42-20 win over Russellville.
Since then, he’s “been an automatic 100-plus yards with a touchdown,” said Clark. “If he’s out there, I don’t care who it is, he’s getting to 100 and a score. It’s what he does.
He’s just a natural with the ball, and he’s something to watch.”
Ward moved to Marion over the winter but quickly flashed his ability during off-season drills. He’s come up with productive carries in every game and “we could easily play him at receiver if we needed to do that,” said Clark. “He’s just a super talented kid, who can feel the game.”
Dent paced Marion’s 2023 8-1 conference champion junior high team in total offense and touchdowns, and he broke camp as an explosive tailback. He burst onto the scene against Sylvan Hills with his first 100-yard varsity game and three touchdowns.
Injuries to Marion’s top two receivers necessitated Dent’s shift to wideout, and he led the Pats in his first start out wide in receptions (four), receiving yards (77) and receiving TDs (one). “J.D. Is just gifted and a great kid,” said Clark. “He picked up on everything really fast Jonesboro week, but he’s one who could probably be great at six or seven spots if he worked there. Impressive to watch.”
Marion’s talented offensive backfield will need to stay hot this week as Sheridan invades Southern Bancorp Stadium in another massive 6A East conference contest.
Sheridan enters play this week at 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the 6A East under first-year coach Kevin Kelley, a 2021 induction into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame following his prosperous run at Pulaski Academy, where Kelley’s teams went a combined 21629-1 in his 18 seasons at the helm with 12 finals appearances and nine state championships.
“I don’t care which school a guy that successful is, a coach like that is dangerous,” said Clark. “He’s won a million games and a hundred titles if you can coach, you can coach, and Kevin Kelley can coach.”
Kelley took over at Sheridan last December and his first Yellowjacket outfit boasts one of the state’s top playmakers, sophomore tailback Zay Stephens, who has racked up almost 1,500 total yards already this fall with 20 touchdowns.
“Stephens is as good with the ball as any I’ve seen at his age,” said Clark. “He’s great running with it, he’s great catching it and taking off.
He’s so quick coming out of cuts, it’s really rare and impressive to watch. We will have to do a great job on him even to have a chance this week.”
Marion is 4-0 all-time against Sheridan, applying the mercy rule in all four meetings.
HOW TO WATCH
You can watch the presentation of the 2024 Marion homecoming court and the Sheridan football game for free on MarionPatriots.com, on the MPAN YouTube channel, or on the MPAN mobile app. The homecoming presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by Marion’s typical pregame festivities, and then kickoff at 7 p.m.
SCHEDULING QUIRK
Sheridan travels to Marion for the second season in a row after the Patriots topped the Yellowjackets 55-21 a season ago.
The Patriots also traveled to El Dorado earlier this season for the second season in a row.
RANKINGS RUNDOWN
Marion maintained its hold on its No. 4 ranking this week in Hootens.com’s weekly Class 6A rankings, and the Patriots checked in at No. 5 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s weekly Super Six rankings.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Marion junior defensive back Kajeris Hill earned the Crittenden County Farm Bureau Player of the Week award after he intercepted two passes at Jonesboro and returned both for touchdowns.
Senior tight end Cam Garrett earned the team’s Patriot of the Week award, while senior right tackle Michael Watson won the team’s Offensive Lineman of the Week.
PLAYOFF PATS
Marion clinched a berth in the state tournament for the 20th season in a row with its victory last week at Jonesboro.
It’s the longest playoff streak in Marion school history.
Marion last missed the state playoffs in 2004 when the Patriots tied with Paragould for the last playoff spot, but lost out on the tiebreaker. MHS returned to the postseason in 2005 hosted the first home playoff game in program history and advanced to the state quarterfinals for the second time ever. The 2006 Patriots shared the 6A East conference title and made the semifinals for the first time in program history, a feat that the 2020 and 2021 teams repeated.
GROUND AND POUND
Marion has rushed for 1,646 yards so far in 2024, more than 235 yards per game and almost 6.5 yards per carry.
BALL HAWKS Marion has already forced 17 turnovers this fall, more than two per game.
6A EAST RESULTS FROM 10/18
Marion 51, Jonesboro 30 West Memphis 13, Sylvan Hills 10 LR Catholic 51, Sheridan 48 Benton 56, El Dorado 31
6A EAST STANDINGS
Marion 4-0 Benton 4-0 LR Catholic 4-0 El Dorado 1-3 Jonesboro 1-3 Sheridan 1-3 W. Memphis 1-3 Sylvan Hills 0-4 Top six teams make state playoffs.
6A EAST GAMES ON 10/25
Sheridan at Marion W. Memphis at El Dorado Benton at LR Catholic Jonesboro at Sylvan Hills
