Warriors falter in season finale
Marion High School defenders made some spectacular plays Friday against running powerhouse Hesston, but they were too few and far between, as the Warriors fell 30-6 to the Swathers in the game played at Hesston.
The loss capped a five-game losing streak that ended the Warriors' season at 2-7.
Chase Williams, Nick Klenda, Emmanuel Jackson, and John Barr III leveled Swather backs on plays that had Marion fans buzzing on the sidelines, ever hopeful for a game-changing defensive stand.
Invariably, however, the Swathers answered with devastating plays of their own. They drove relentlessly down the field for touchdowns on each of their first four possessions.
"They were nine of 12 on third down conversions, and that makes it tough on a defensive team," said Marion head coach Grant Thierolf.
A wet field, cold, blustery winds, and the constant threat of rain did little to impede a Hesston offense heavily dependent on their running game.
The Swathers piled up 290 yards on 51 carries. Drives of 77, 80, 47 and 80 yards kept the ball out of the hands of the Marion offense, as Hesston possessed the ball almost 20 minutes more than the Warriors.
"We got behind and didn't get a chance to get anything going in the first half," said Thierolf.
Swather fullback Cameron Bailey did the most damage to the Warriors, toting the ball out of the Hesston wishbone 19 times for 111 yards and one touchdown.
Jake Wray, Michael Petrocci, and Landon Unruh also scored touchdowns for the Swathers.
Hesston's defense confounded the Warriors for the better part of three quarters. Most of Marion's 191 total yards came well after the outcome had been decided.
Determined not to be held scoreless, the Warriors embarked on a spirited fourth quarter drive, sparked by the running of Jackson, who rushed for a game-high 121 yards on 14 carries.
Marion started deep in its own territory following Hesston's lone punt of the evening, taking over at its own 10 yard line.
Jackson gave the Warriors some breathing room by converting two first downs, to move the ball out to the 30.
Jackson then electrified the Marion faithful by bursting through the left side of the Swather line, breaking free of a would-be tackler at the Hesston 45 before finally being hauled down at the Swather 30.
Four plays later, Jackson punctuated the 90-yard drive with an 8-yard sweep around left end for Marion's lone touchdown of the contest.
"I thought Emmanuel ran hard all night, we got good blocking from our offensive line, and Derek (Riggs) and Austin (Hager) did a great job of blocking, too," Thierolf said.
Looking to explain why the Warrior offense was bottled up for most of the game, Thierolf pointed to the play of the Swather linebackers.
"We had to double-team the defensive linemen to get them blocked, and when you have to do that you leave the linebackers pretty free and easy," he explained.
"They were very experienced at linebacker. Those kids have been playing for a couple of years, and experience makes a world of difference," Thierolf said.
Knowing they were out of the playoff picture, the Warriors might have entered the game emotionally flat, but Thierolf was well satisfied with the effort his players put forth.
"We take seriously our school mascot, the Warrior," he said. "We wanted to make sure the kids knew that warriors don't back down, and they don't give up."
"I thought our kids played as hard as they could play. We were as physical as we could be. That's all a coach can ask of his kids."
