Gray leads Pats to victory over Lions

6A-EAST

MARION 56, SEARCY 35

MARION — Senior quarterback Ashton Gray amassed 353 total yards with six touchdowns to help Marion beat Searcy 56-35 on Friday night at Southern Bancorp Stadium.

Gray rushed for 287 yards and 5 touchdowns, and he completed 6 of 7 passes for 66 yards and another score.

“Obviously a big win at home against a really good team,” said Marion Coach Lance Clark. “I wasn’t sure either one of us was going to stop the other one. It turns out we made a couple of plays late to get us to where we needed to be.”

Marion (5-1, 4-1 6A East) led the entire game thanks to senior tailback Jamar Foster, who ran for a 63-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. Gray added a two-point conversion rush to give Marion an 8-0 lead.

The Marion defense forced a punt on the ensuing drive, and Gray capped a 9-play, 75-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown plunge with 7:32 left in the first for a 15-0 lead.

Searcy (4-2, 3-2) responded with a 72-yard drive that culminated with a 3-yard touchdown rush from tailback Rickey Love that cut the Marion lead to 15-7.

The Patriots held a 22-7 lead after one quarter after Gray ran 19 yards to the end zone with 38 seconds left in the initial frame.

Searcy took advantage of the ensuing drive when quarterback Tyler Strickland hit Jesse Sumpter with a 17-yard touchdown toss with 10:21 left in the first half to pull the visitors within 22-14.

Searcy recovered an onside kick following Sumpter’s score and Strickland hit Sumpter again for a score, this time from 27 yards out, working within 22-21.

Marion tailback Jalen Smith, who rushed for 239 yards against Searcy, ran 15 yards for a touchdown with 2:25 left in the first half to extend the lead to 29-21.

Strickland answered with an 11-yard touchdown rush of his own with 37 seconds left in the first half to get the Lions within 29-28.

Following a short Searcy kick, Marion drove 60 yards in just 3 plays, finding the end zone when Gray dropped a 26-yard touchdown pass to Mitrell Lewis with 11 seconds remaining in the first half. Marion led 37-28 at the break.

“Absolutely massive score right before the break,” said Clark. “If we don’t score there, we knew they got the ball in the third and we don’t know what’s gonna happen. We score and now we are back up nine and feeling better about the situation.”

Love cashed in on Searcy’s first drive of the third period when he ran 5 yards for a score to get Searcy within 37-35.

Marion then drove 69 yards in 12 plays, shaving almost 4 minutes off the clock. Gray kept the drive going when he hit Smith for 21 yards on fourth-and-8, and Gray scored from 2 yards out on the next play for a 43-35 Marion lead that doubled as the tally after 3 quarters.

The game flipped dramatically in the middle of the fourth quarter when Searcy missed a 40-yard field goal with 7:10 left in regulation. Gray then darted 77 yards on second-and-7 of Marion’s ensuing drive for a 50-35 advantage.

The Marion defense forced a turnover on downs on the ensuing drive and its offense drove 50 yards in 3 plays. Marion took a 56-35 lead when Gray went over the top from 2 yards out with 3:34 left in the game.

“I kept telling our guys to stay the course and focus on the next play,” said Clark. “It wasn’t always pretty tonight, but we won because we kept believing that we’d make the big play.”

Marion cornerback Taheem Frost ended Searcy’s final drive with an interception.

Love rushed for 194 yards for Searcy, while Strickland added 162.