Rivalry carries weight in Marion
Marion Coach Lance Clark hears it nearly everywhere he goes in eastern Arkansas.
This is the biggest week of the regular season for most of his team’s fans — the annual clash with West Memphis.
“[For] my community here in Marion, it’s a very important game,” Clark said. “People who don’t come to most of the games will be at this one. I’ll go to McDonald’s and they’ll know. They’ll [say] ‘Hey, how are you going to handle West Memphis? Are you going to beat West Memphis this year?’ And that’s what makes it fun. You know, that’s high school athletics. It’s a lot of fun to be a part of something like that. And so it’ll be an exciting atmosphere.”
Last season, Clark and the Patriots ended a 15-game losing streak to their nearby rivals with a 33-3 victory. But a violation of the Arkansas Activities Association’s eligibility rules meant the win was vacated, meaning, at least in the record books, the losing streak remains.
Marion (4-2, 4-1 6A-East) and West Memphis (5-1, 4-1) are in a three-way tie for second place in the 6A-East. On top of the usual rivalry pressure, this game can go a long way in deciding playoff seeding in less than a month.
“Marion-West Memphis is a fierce rivalry. We’re right across the street from each other. Our kids know each other,” Clark said. “There’s community pressure. The community will be really excited about the game. So there’s that piece of it. And then from my end more than that, it’s very much about the playoff seeding right now. Whoever wins this one gives themselves a tiebreaker shot over the other one in playoff seeding. There are still more games to be played across the board to see how that totally shakes out, but it’s certainly a game that has a lot of playoff ramifications.”
West Memphis Coach Robert Hooks won his only previous meeting with Marion, 20-7 in the year prior to Clark’s arrival. Clark said he is prepared for a fight from Hooks’ squad tonight at Marion’s Premier Bank Stadium.
“West Memphis has a very proud tradition of football excellence, and they have a proud tradition of excellence versus Marion,” Clark said. “And they’ll certainly want to get back on that horse against us and kind of reestablish their footing in the rivalry.”
The Patriots got a significant boost last week with the return of starting quarterback Ashton Gray.
The junior missed Marion’s fourth and fifth games — against Greene County Tech and Benton — with what was feared to be a meniscus tear. But it turned out to be a bruise — one that will hamper Gray’s mobility slightly, but not enough to keep him sidelined any longer.
He completed 16 of 21 passes for 311 yards and 4 touchdowns in his return last week against Searcy, leading Marion to a 57-28 win.
Clark said he has high hopes for what Marion can be this season at its full potential, and Gray plays a key role in that.
“To get to where we want to go and play the level that we expect to play, we’re going to need to have the ability to throw and run the ball,” Clark said.
“Ashton allows you to run your whole offense to the best of his ability. He allows other players to maximize what they can do, and the defense has to play him honest — both in the run game and the pass game. And when that happens, it allows other players in your run game to start to have a little more success or things become a little easier for you.”