Arkansas state of mind

Arkansas state of mind

Pats get big plays from seniors, five turnovers from defense

Sports Editor

As he scanned over the crowd of more than 150 people assembled in front of him on the Patriot Stadium turf, a small smile broke out on the face of Jed Davis.

The third-year Marion head coach had just watched his 2016 Patriots log their first win of the season, a 62-35 rout against Jackson, Missouri, and now, it was time for what Davis referred to as his “Favorite part of the week.”

“How ‘bout those Patriots?!” yelled the coach before jumping into a front line of his players, which drew a raucous response from the group on the field.

Moments earlier, that same crowd was cheering for their Patriots, who won their first home game in nearly a year, dating back to a September 18 win last season against Blytheville.

“This was about nine months of frustration coming out,” Davis explained after the game with a laugh. “You saw last week our inexperience on the offensive line come to fruition, but we took it to the kids this week. We had full-on practices every day this week. I think we exercised a few demons tonight, too.”

The Patriots slipped the Indians by playing well in all three phases, forcing five turnovers on defense, giving senior playmakers Collin Chambers and Tom Young plenty of opportunity to put points on the board for the offense, while kicker and punter Bradford Doherty hit a pair of field goals, including what’s believed to be a school-record 45-yard kick in the fourth quarter, while also pinning Jackson deep on kickoffs and punts.

Chambers caught four passes for 214 yards and four touchdowns, while Young handled 21 carries for 140 yards and three scores of his own. Young added four catches for 46 yards.

“I think the difference was just execution,” Chambers said of his team’s offensive leap from week 1 to week 2. “I guess Wynne woke us up, you could say.”

Marion (1-1 overall) lost starting quarterback Jacob Green to a knee injury last week in that Wynne game, but junior Peyton Walker proved to be up to the task for the Pats. Walker led Marion on three scoring drives in the opener and enjoyed an 18 of 33 passing night for 325 yards and four touchdowns, as well as an interception. The Pats rolled up 591 yards of offense on the night.

Young scored his first two touchdowns on Marion’s first two drives, breaking free for 55 yards on a 4thand- 2 on the initial drive for the hosts, before a hard-nosed score from a yard out for a 14-0 Marion lead with 5:48 left in the first quarter.

Walker hit Chambers on a route by the sideline and Marion’s number 2 made the corner miss and was off to the races for a 21-7 lead, which was also the score after the first quarter.

A Jackson score got the visitors within 21-14 with 7:11 left in the first half, which set the scene for one of the two crucial times of the game.

Following a Jackson punt, Walker hit Chambers on a picture-perfect post route from 55 yards out that gave Marion a 28-14 lead and on the ensuing possession Marion senior safety Kabryn “K.B.” Williams intercepted a tipped ball across the middle of the field and sprinted 42 yards for a touchdown, and a 3514 advantage. The two scores came within 90 seconds of each other.

“I think we had turned it over four times all year before tonight,” said Jackson head coach Brent Eckley, whose team was 30 entering play. “Tonight, we turned it over five times for sure, and then there’s a fourth down that we don’t get, as well as an onside kick, so that’s really seven when you add everything up, and it’s just tough to win like that.”

Despite Marion’s scoring flurry, Jackson was within 35-21 at halftime and trimmed it down to 35-28 after scoring on the initial drive of the second half.

“When they made it 3528, I really felt like we played some uninspired defense on that drive,” Davis stated. “I got really worried, because they went bang-bang-bang all the way down the field. I was worried about our veteran leadership. Who’s it gonna be? Last year, we had a lot of seniors and they were there for us, but we didn’t quite know who it was this year, but our offense responded in a big way.”

The first response was Chambers, who took a short pass 51 yards to the paint for a touchdown and a 42-28 Marion lead, and following a turnover by each team, as well as a punt each way, Chambers capped his night with a 31yard scoring catch and Young ended the third quarter with a 17-yard touchdown run that went for a 56-28 lead after three quarters.

All of Marion’s scoring in the fourth quarter was done by Doherty, the senior soccer player, and now kicker for the Pats. His first kick was true from 36 yards out, before the potential record-setting kick late in the fourth quarter that plowed across from 45 and looked to be good for at least four or five more yards.

Marion concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule on Friday night with a trip to play the Blytheville Chickasaws for the third straight season.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the contest can be heard on FM 92.5 KWYNN.

By Chuck Livingston