Patriots ranked No. 9 in state football Top 25

Marion ready for clash with LR Catholic tonight

By Chuck Livingston

Marion School District

The news started rolling out early Saturday afternoon when some state publications published their weekly rankings.

Prep website ScoreBook-Live.com’s rankings surely caught many in Marion’s attention as the Patriots checked in at No. 9 this week, the highest Marion has been in any overall Top 25 ranking this fall.

In September, Marion took down the No. 10 spot following its 37-7 home victory over Harding Academy to improve to 2-0.

Bryant, Conway, Greenwood, Little Rock Parkview, Pulaski Academy, Benton, Bentonville, and Shiloh Christian are the only other programs to outrank Marion in the latest edition of the SBLive.com Top 25 rankings.

The Patriots are ranked No. 4 in every major Class 6A ranking, including the Arkansas-Democrat Gazette and Hootens.com.

“It’s a really cool thing because it means that people are noticing the work and effort that your kids and coaches are putting into this program,” said Marion coach Lance Clark, who’s crafted a 30-13 record thus far since arriving at the school before the 2021 season. “But it’s still early right now. We have work left to do, and big games left to play.”

Marion’s (7-1 overall, 5-0 6A East) rise as a program has coincided with Clark’s arrival at the school. Prior to 2021, the Patriots had never beaten Crittenden County rival West Memphis on the gridiron and had a losing record to Wynne and Jonesboro.

Clark’s first victory on the Marion sideline came in the 2021 season opener when Dylan Pieri connected on a 38-yard field goal that gave the Patriots a dramatic 24-21 victory over Wynne.

That conquest kicked off Marion’s most prosperous run ever against its regional rivals. Under Clark, the Patriots are a combined 9-1 against West Memphis, Jonesboro, and Wynne, including a 3-0 mark against that trio in 2024.

“That has been very important to win those games not just because they’re close to us or anything, but they’ve also been good programs through the years,” said Clark. “When you beat another good team, that’s a good thing for your own team. It helps energize your own building and team because people are invested and excited about what you have going on.”

Just a decade ago, Marion was mired in a cycle of just five victories over a three-year span from 2012 to 2014 after the Patriots finished 1-10 in 2014.

Marion qualified for its 20th consecutive appearance in the state playoffs in last week’s victory over Sheridan, and the Patriots control their own destiny this year for a conference championship, a first-round bye, and home playoff games. “It’s a big deal to be able to go out and take care of your own business as far as playoff spots, conference titles, and all that,” said Clark. “The past couple of years, we have lost early to Benton and we needed some help down the stretch to try and move up, but this year all we have to do is win two more games and we’ll be conference champions with a No. 1 playoff seed.

There won’t be anything easy about it, these next two games are probably our two most

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Photo by Eryn Edwards PATS

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difficult conference opponents, but if we can find a way to win them then we will have accomplished one of our bigger goals.”

Should Marion win its last two regular season games, this Friday night at Little Rock Catholic and on Friday, November 8 home for Benton, then the Patriots would earn their first outright conference championship in school history, and just the third league crown ever (1984 and 2006 co-champions).

Marion’s penultimate regular season game will be played perhaps on the state’s biggest stage for high school football at 7 p.m. on Friday evening as the Patriots travel to do battle with the Little Rock Catholic Rockets (7-1 overall, 4-1 6A East) inside War Memorial Stadium.

LR Catholic joined the 6A East in time for the 2022 season, and the Rockets promptly started that year 11-0, capturing the outright 6A East title, earning a first-round playoff bye, and topping Little Rock Christian in a dramatic quarterfinal contest before falling to eventual state champion Pulaski Academy in the semifinals.

The Rockets stayed stout in 2023, finishing 7-4, and their best win was likely a 38-34 Week 10 victory at Marion that catapulted Catholic into the No. 3 playoff seed and gave it a first-round home playoff game.

Clark said that this year’s Catholic outfit hasn’t changed much.

“You look out there, and they’re running the same scheme, their guys are all talented and play hard,” said Clark. “Offensively they have a great QB and receivers who can get open and catch the ball. Their offensive line is big and moves well. This is just a really good team that doesn’t beat itself, and even if you play really well, they can outplay you.”

Catholic, which carries a No.

12 overall ranking on SBLive.com into this game, won its first seven contests this fall, and the Rockets carried Class 6A’s top-scoring defense into their narrow 5148 victory at Sheridan, and Catholic absorbed its first loss a week ago in a 42-0 defeat to Benton.

“Benton beats a lot of teams like that, it doesn’t change what we think about Little Rock Catholic,” said Clark.

“What you see on film from Catholic is a team that is almost always going to be in ballgames late, so they’re comfortable in that setting.

They know how to execute when the chips are down, and they value possessions. Then they can win a game on defense if it comes down to that.”

HOW TO WATCH

The Marion-Little Rock Catholic contest will kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday night from War Memorial Stadium, and you can watch the game for free on MarionPatriots.com, on the MPAN YouTube channel, or on the MPAN mobile app.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN

Marion earned a No. 9 statewide ranking this week on ScoreBookLive.com, and the Patriots are the No. 4 Class 6A team in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and on Hootens.com.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Marion senior tailback Jalen Smith earned the Crittenden County Farm Bureau Player of the Week award for his performance last week in his team’s victory over Sheridan.

Smith rushed for a career-high 302 yards and five touchdowns to turn away the Yellowjackets.

Marion senior left tackle Carius Curne, who’s a Louisiana State commit, earned the team’s Offensive Lineman of the Week award after recording a career-high 17 pancake blocks against Sheridan. Patriot junior defensive lineman Makhi Guyton earned the DTMG Patriot of the Week award after grading out at 91 percent against Sheridan.

CLARK UP THE CHARTS

Marion’s victory over Sheridan was significant for Coach

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Lance Clark as well, as it was his 30th victory at the school. That figure places him third all-time in victories at MHS, behind Bill Cook (56) and Mark Uhiren (64).

Clark’s 70 percent winning percentage is the best ever at Marion.

THERE’S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

Marion has a chance to achieve two firsts at one time on Friday night when it takes the field at War Memorial Stadium against Little Rock Catholic A victory would be Marion’s first against Catholic in three tries, and it would also be the Pats’ first win at War Memorial Stadium after losing their first seven tries at the historic site.

6A EAST STANDINGS AS OF 10/31

Marion 5-0 Benton 5-0 LR Catholic 4-1 El Dorado 2-3 Jonesboro 2-3 Sheridan 1-4 W. Memphis 1-4 Sylvan Hills 0-5

6A EAST GAMES ON 11/1

Marion at Little Rock Catholic West Memphis at Benton El Dorado at Jonesboro Sylvan Hills at Sheridan

6A EAST GAMES ON 11/8

Benton at Marion Sheridan at El Dorado Little Rock Catholic at Sylvan Hills Jonesboro at West Memphis