Staff writer
Head coach Grant Thierolf made one critical oversight in preparing his team to face Remington on Friday night, and he apologized to players afterward.
“Sorry guys, I really thought this week was their homecoming,” he said.
Marion wasn’t able to spoil a second homecoming in a row, but a 42-27 victory to go to 3-0 on the season made for a successful week nonetheless.
Three Warriors eclipsed 100 yards rushing: Jack Schneider, Aaron Riggs, and Corbin Wheeler, who combined to put up 421 of Marion’s 432 rushing yards.
Wheeler was lightning in a bottle for the Warriors, as he broke runs of 59 and 58 yards for touchdowns in the first half. He finished with 164 yards on 7 carries.
Riggs was thunderous, constantly rolling ahead, booming into defenders and displacing them to finish with 140 yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 carries.
Schneider, meanwhile, ran like the wind, taking advantage of holes in the Remington defense for consistent chunks of yardage. He finished with 117 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
Thierolf was pleased with their output, but said there was an element missing from his offense.
“The one thing we’ve gotta get better at is our passing,” he said. “We haven’t thrown the ball particularly well this year, and we’ve got guys that can catch the ball that we need to get the ball to. Nine times out of 10 when you miss a throw, it comes down to a mechanical thing.”
Marion was cruising early on, before a 73-yard Remington score with under 30 seconds left in the first half brought the score to 20-7.
Thierolf said the defense needed to adjust some things to avoid giving up big plays.
“We can’t give up big plays like that against our future opponents,” Thierolf said. “It’s pretty simple: We’ve just got to make them earn everything they get instead of getting everything in one big chunk.”
Marion will return home to face Ell-Saline on Friday, a game that presents the Warriors with their biggest challenge so far this season, Thierolf said.
He told his team that Ell-Saline was the first team that would be able to match its speed.
“We’re going to be facing a really good team next week,” he said. “But so are they.”