Marion knocks off top-seeded Benton
“It’s one of the bigger wins in school history. We’re going to celebrate, of course, tonight. The kids and the coaching staff have certainly earned it.”
Marion Coach Lance Clark
BENTON — The final seconds worked out perfectly for Marion.
Benton got the football back for what looked like the final drive of the game, but senior Stran Smith found Casey Johnson on a pass that the running back took 41 yards to the end zone with 8 seconds remaining.
It’d be no matter, though, as the Panthers were down more than four scores. A touchback on the ensuing kickoff gave the Patriots the ball with enough time to run the ultimate game-sealing play: victory formation.
With those 8 seconds left, No. 4 seed Marion’s offense took a knee to cap off a massive victory, 59-37, on the top-seeded Panthers’ home turf.
“It’s one of the bigger wins in school history,” Marion Coach Lance Clark said. “We’re going to celebrate, of course, tonight. The kids and the coaching staff have certainly earned it.”
Marion (6-6) finished with 611 yards of total offense. Quarterback Ben Gerrard carried the way through the air, with 426 yards on an 18-of-23 night with 5 touchdowns. His top target, Donnie Cheers, had just 6 catches, but 3 of them were scores. He finished with 168 receiving yards.
“We didn’t have an answer for [Cheers],” Benton Coach Brad Harris said. “[Cheers] had a heck of a night. We couldn’t couldn’t keep him from going over top of us.”
Cameron Anderson led the charge on the ground for Marion. He finished with 153 rush yards on 35 carries for 3 touchdowns.
The Patriots and Panthers combined to generate 986 yards to pair with their 90 combined points. It was a shootout from the onset, and especially so in the first half.
Benton won the toss and elected to receive, kickstarting the first six possessions between both teams ending in touchdowns, making it 21-21 just into the second quarter.
Both teams eventually kicked field goals before halftime, making it 24-24, but a big difference-maker may have been the Panthers’ decision to start the game with the ball.
Marion, which got the final score of the first half, was on offense following intermission. It took the Patriots only five plays to find the end zone and take their first lead. The Patriots also made some adjustments, Clark said, to shut down the Panthers, and they appeared to be successful.
Benton (9-2) had 375 yards of offense in the loss, but it had generated 259 of them before the half. Smith finished 21 of 31 passing with 283 yards and 3 scores, but he was 7 of 11 after halftime with 101 yards and a score, which came on a 41-yard touchdown late.
The Panthers had five possessions in the second half and scored just twice, as opposed to scoring on four of six drives in the first half.
“I don’t know if you can say we were overconfident, maybe because we felt like the [6A-West] was better than the [6A-East], but we found out tonight the East can play football. You don’t overlook, no matter if it’s a three or a four seed, it’s playoff football.”