Cardinal curse continues for Marion
Hillsboro, Peabody win impressively; Goessel loses at end
Staff writers
Marion’s hopes for a district title and an undefeated regular season ended with a 34-28 loss Friday to Sedgwick.
The last time Marion ended a regular season unbeaten, current coach Shaun Craft was the quarterback 26 years ago.
That team spent much of the season atop the Class 3A rankings only to by knocked out by former Warrior coach Grant Thierolf’s alma mater, Beloit, in the first round of the postseason.
This year, the Class 1A District 6 title was up for grabs Friday night in a regular season finale with the host Warriors looking for their first win since 2016 against bitter rival Sedgwick.
The Warriors came the closest they have knocking the Cardinals off a year ago, tumbling 35-32, leading many to think 2023 might finally be the Warriors’ chance to turn the tide.
Marion had all the makings for putting an end to years of misery to Sedgwick on the football field. But it also had the makings for sorrows to continue, which they did with the Cardinals hanging on for the victory.
“We missed a lot of opportunities,” Craft said. “We had too many penalties and we gave up some big fourth down plays.”
Oh, the penalties.
None loomed larger than Jack Lanning’s 67-yard touchdown run early in the second half with the game knotted at 20-20.
Double fouls wiped out Lanning’s run, and Marion quickly found itself down 34-20 — just the third time the Warriors had played from behind this season.
Marion ended the regular season like Sedgwick at 7-1. It will open the postseason Friday with a home game against the same team that ended its season last year, the Wabaunsee Chargers.
Marion’s two-headed monster of Lanning and Trevor Schafers did all they could Friday, with Schafers carrying 16 times for a game-high 110 yards and one touchdown.
Lanning chipped in 98 more of the Warriors’ 238 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while throwing for 147 more, including a 62-yard touchdown to Jonathan Freese.
The Warriors simply had no way to slow down Cardinal quarterback Cory Crumrine, who torched Marion for 312 yards and three touchdowns on 18-for-31 passing.
Sedgwick’s 414 total yards were the most surrendered by the Warriors this year.
Crumrine’s 44-yard pass to Jeff Nold with 4:44 left in the game all but sealed Marion’s fate.
Marion cut the lead to the final score on its next drive, with Lanning scoring from 5 yards out.
But the Cardinals recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock for the victory.
Hillsboro
The Trojans had a dominating 52-13 victory Friday win over Lyons.
Hillsboro opened up the game with quarterback Dawson Boldt finding tight end Zander Haslett for a 76-yard touchdown.
Seth Driggers reached the end zone on a 48 yard punt return as well as a pick-6 interception in the third quarter.
Boldt also found Driggers for a 36-yard touchdown.
Hillsboro, with 211 yards passing and 242 passing, finished with 453 yards total versus Lyons’s 148.
The Trojan defense held Lyons to 13 points and forced three interceptions.
Hillsboro (5-3) will be on the road Friday against Kingman (6-2) to decide on which team gets to move on into the next round of the postseason.
Goessel
The last game in district play for Goessel came Friday in Little River.
After the Redskins built a 22-0 lead in the second quarter, Goessel’s chances looked dim.
A 40-yard pass from Noah Schrag to Wade Spurlin cut into the deficit. When Eli Boden recovered a Little River fumble the Schrag / Spurlin combination worked again for 20 yards, Goessel went into halftime trailing 22-14.
Goessel earned several first downs to start the third quarter before Jake Flaming was able to run 11 yards for a touchdown. A failed conversion left the Bluebirds behind 22-20.
Both defenses were stellar until Little River rambled 45 yards for another score with 1:45 left in the game.
The Bluebirds then marched to the two yard line, and Schrag connected with Klay Willis for a score with 37 seconds left.
Trailing 30-26, the Bluebirds were successful in recovering a muffed kickoff and got as close as the 25 yard line, but all passes to the end zone were unsuccessful and Little River escaped with the victory.
The Bluebirds finished fourth in the district and will play Central High School at Burden at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Peabody-Burns
The Warriors bounced back Friday with a 48-40 victory over Centre.
“I am proud for what the boys have worked for and achieved to this point,” coach Eric Dutton said. “We have a lot of work to do in the next two weeks in order to be prepared for the Tescott game.”
The Warriors opened up the season against Tescott, losing 45-26, but since have gone on a winning streak.
“We have grown a lot as a team over the season and we are excited for the rematch from week 1,” Dutton said.
Peabody-Burns (5-3) will be on the road Nov. 3 playing Tescott (4-2) to decide who gets to move on into the next round of the postseason.
Centre
Centre was unable to capture a victory Friday against Peabody-Burns, losing 48-40.
Plagued with injuries this season, Centre still managed to fight another day and make games close, but the Cougars lost quarterback Gentri Holub, who went out with a knee injury.
“We lost a close one last Friday to a good Peabody team,” coach Kelly Steiner said. “We bit too many time on the play-action pass and got ourselves out of position.”
Centre (3-4) will be at home Thursday playing Southern Cloud co-op (1-6).
Last modified Oct. 25, 2023