Patriots on the road to El Dorado for tonight’s game

Marion looks to continue momentum from last week in clash with ‘Cats

By Chuck Livingston

arkansasrazorbacks.com

For most fans, attending a high school football game is as simple as planning the date, driving to the stadium, buying your tickets and watching the contest.

It’s a little different for the team and its personnel, however.

Take the Marion Patriots, for example.

Marion’s first conference road trip of the 2024 season is Friday night, but the planning for the big ballgame down in Union County began as early as over the summer.

“Us coaches feel like we are at our best when we arrive at the stadium at 4:15,” said fourth-year coach Lance Clark. “So, let’s start there.

What time do we have to leave to get to where we need to be and off the bus at 4:15?

Then, for a longer trip like this week, we have to stop on the way somewhere to eat our pregame meal. But it’s not as simple as just stopping and eating wherever. It needs to be between 1:45 and maybe 3.

So there are so many things that go into a trip, and then you have to hope for no traffic or slower areas.”

Marion’s (3-1 overall, 1-0 6A East) game week preparation begins on Sunday afternoon when players and coaches report to the fieldhouse to lift and watch the previous Friday night’s game film.

“We lift and do film because we want to be sort of light on a Sunday, but we want Sunday to not be a total waste of time, so it’s about 45 minutes for lift and film,” said Clark.

“After we finish with those two things then our coaches start to make their plan for the next week’s game.”

Monday opens the new school week, as well as the first of four days the team uses to prepare for the coming game.

“Mental Monday” welcomes the team into the building Monday during athletics, and it begins with Clark meeting with the entire team in the cafeteria before players split and go into offensive, defensive, and special teams meetings.

“I always tell our teams that the elite programs in high school, college, or whatever are good on Monday and Thursday,” said Clark. “That’s when you turn the page on the last game and focus on the task at hand.”

Tuesday and Wednesday feature full-padded practices on the field and in the elements where players work on that week’s scheme.

The team generally practices for almost two hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thursday does not feature full pads, but the team goes through a walkthrough for about an hour before going into the locker room to clean up and pack their travel bags for gameday.

After players leave for the day, coaches help pack the equipment truck for the following day’s journey.

Marion’s departure time depends on long a trip the team is embarking on that day, and this week is unique in that Marion is on fall break the next two weeks, and El Dorado is the Pats’ longest scheduled road trip of the season at more than 210 miles to Memorial Stadium from the Marion fieldhouse.

“In a regular week, we’d have to get our guys checked out of school to report to the building to get ready to leave,” said Clark. “This week is different in that our kids are not in school, so now we need them to show up on time and be ready to go, so both situations are a little different with other challenges.”

This week, Marion will leave the building at 11:30 with a stop scheduled at Wright’s Ranch House in Sheridan at about 2:00. The team will eat its pregame meal in about 45 minutes and plan to arrive at Memorial Stadium at 4:15.

From there, the Pats will get off the bus, unload equipment,

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take bathroom breaks and get ready to walk the field as a team at approximately 5 p.m.

Beginning at 5:30, the team will stretch and do activation drills in separate groups before getting dressed and hitting the field beginning around 6 p.m.

“Walking the field as a team is a big deal,” said Clark. “We are not in a hurry or anything, but it’s important to be together before a game.”

Clark has gotten good at prepping his teams to play at El Dorado. This is Marion’s fourth trip to Memorial Stadium since he took over in 2021, and each contest has been fascinating in its own right.

The Pats played the Wildcats on October 15, 2021 in a conference contest that the home team led 36-7 before settling for a 36-7 victory.

The loss wound up as a turning point for Marion’s season as the Pats won their next five games following the October defeat and MHS surged to the state semifinals for the second year in a row.

Waiting for Marion in the final four was El Dorado, which beat Marion 60-27 before winning the Class 6A state title one week later.

Marion topped El Dorado for the first time ever in the 2022 league opener at home and last September, MHS claimed its first victory at El Dorado with an impressive 50-13 conquest and “you know they have some reminder up in their building about that game,” said Clark. “That program has great pride and tradition and they’ll play better and be locked in on Friday.”

The Wildcats are 2-2 in 2024 after losing 26-6 a week ago in their conference opener at Little Rock Catholic.

El Dorado, in its second season under Coach Chris Hill, offers multiple offensive looks, including the wishbone.

Defensively, the Wildcats have “three great linebackers,” said Clark. “They’re good all over on defense, but having three ‘backers like that makes it tough on an offense.” El Dorado playmakers Jakori Lumsey and A.J. Gilmore have huge roles on offense and defense and are generally regarded as two of the state’s top players.

“Those two definitely have juice,” said Clark. “Lumsey is one of the ‘backers and he runs it some too. Gilmore goes and gets it at safety and he makes big plays at receiver. We have to be aware of them anytime they’re on the field.”

HOW TO WATCH

Kickoff in El Dorado is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Friday night and you can watch for free on MarionPatriots.com, on the MPAN YouTube channel, or on the MPAN mobile app.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN

The Patriots maintained their hold on the No. 4 slot in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s weekly Class 6A Super Six rankings, while Marion stayed at No. 5 in Hootens.com weekly Class 6A rankings.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

MHS defensive end Ryan Blackwell earned the Crittenden County Farm Bureau Player of the Week award following Marion’s 45-7 victory a week ago over Sylvan Hills. Sophomore Jeremiah Dent earned the team’s Patriot of the Week award, while Philip Walker won the team’s Offensive Lineman of the Week honors.

WHAT’S THE RUSH?

Marion senior tailback Jalen Smith rushed 11 times on Friday night for 100 yards, bringing his career total to 3,271 yards. Smith continues to close in the school’s alltime rushing record of 3,622 by 2017 grad Tom Young.

6A EAST STANDINGS

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

5A EAST GAMES ON 10/4

Marion at El Dorado Sheridan at Jonesboro Benton at Sylvan Hills LR Catholic at W. Memphis