Warriors snap five-game slide, 68-14

By RYAN RICHTER

Staff writer

Throughout the bumpy year, Marion’s had big bouts with shortcomings, dropping five consecutive games to stand at 1-6 prior to Friday’s regular season finale at Leon-Bluestem.

While 1-6 is hard times at Marion, even that is hard to come by in Leon with the Lions getting roughed up on a weekly basis.

For the third week in a row, the Warriors became the latest to hang 60 points on Bluestem, routing the Lions, 68-14, to improve to 2-6 and finish 1-2 in district play.

Marion’s 68 points topped Olpe’s 67 and Hillsboro’s 66, leaving Bluestem outscored the by its last three opponents, 203-42.

With a third-place finish in districts, the Warriors averted an even longer trip to perennial powerhouse Pittsburg-Colgan, throwing the Lions to the Panthers for the first round of the postseason.

As the Warriors have had their share of catastrophes such as games quickly getting out of hand and turning the ball over, Friday was a great time to exact revenge on Bluestem.

Marion wasted no time pouncing on the Lions, storming out of the gate for 30 unanswered points to break the game open after the first quarter.

If a game-high 131 yards off 10 carries for two touchdowns by Chase Stringer wasn’t bad enough, the Lions had the roof cave in with 7-giveaways.

The Warriors had their share of problems with the turnover bug, too, fumbling three times, but the wide margin allowed minimal damage.

Bluestem’s 7-blunders made for Marion racking up 391 total yards with 319 on the ground.

Stringer nearly outdid the Lions’ offensive attack alone, finishing just 36 yards shy of Bluestem’s 166 total output.

By the time Bluestem got on the board seven seconds into the second quarter, they were well out of striking distance, down 38-6.

The beat-down continued until it was 68-6 by halftime after Marion’s highest-scoring quarter of the season.

Stringer took off on a 58-yard run with 8:16 left in the second quarter and hit Jaxton Tracy for a 17-yard score for the Warriors’ scoring entirety.

Stringer closed out the night 3-for-6 passing for 72 yards and two more touchdowns before the reserves finished the second half with a running clock.

With all teams advancing to postseason play, Marion makes a long journey east to Pleasanton, about eight miles from the Missouri border.

The Bluejays finished the season 7-1 and runner-up to second-ranked Olpe in district play.