Warriors fall to Hesston
By Eric Clark
Sports Editor
Two power-house football teams collided Saturday night at Hesston and decided who moved on to the 3A quarterfinals — unfortunately it was the host team who moved on, and the visiting Marion Warriors were left to ponder their second loss of the season.
The Warriors were bumped off their road to the 3A state football championship, falling to the Swathers of Hesston 24-6.
Initially, the two teams' defense stole the spotlight, as neither team scored in the first quarter. But Clayton Chamberland's interception in the second quarter set up the first points of the game, as Hesston place-kicker Mitch Mason split the uprights to give the Swathers a 3-0 advantage after connecting on the 31-yard attempt.
Minutes later, the Warriors strung together a 10-play, 80-yard drive, which included a Chamberland pass to Calvin Riggs for a Marion 23-yard touchdown. Boone failed to convert the PAT, but the Warriors led 6-3.
Marion made a late-half goal-line stand stopping Hesston's Josh Schaben from plunging into the endzone on fourth down.
The Warriors reclaimed the ball with a little over four minutes left in the half, and closed out the first two quarters with a three-point lead.
Marion was held scoreless in the third, but the Swathers added seven points to the score board as Randall Dreier lunged forward for a four-yard touchdown midway through the quarter.
In the final period Hesston tacked on two additional touchdowns to speed away from the Warriors and claim the eventual 24-6 win.
As a team, the Warriors were held to 233 total yards, while Hesston exploded for 394 total yards.
Marion's leading rusher Steven Boone was held to just 67 yards for the night, while Hesston's Dreier rambled for 157 yards, which included a late-game touchdown run of 85 yards.
However, Chamberland completed nine of 23 passes for 133 yards. Eighty-six of those yards were fielded by Riggs who caught three passes and a touchdown.
Medicine Lodge
The Marion Warriors advanced to play Hesston after defeating Medicine Lodge 10-0 Nov. 4 in bi-district play.
Marion's Steven Boone connected on a 26-yard field goal with :50 seconds left in the first half to give the Warriors a three-point lead heading into the locker room at half-time.
Boone added a 35-yard run with 2:07 left in the game to give Marion the eventual 10-0 lead after the senior also added the PAT. The running back finished with 133 yards on 30 carries.
