Spring has sprung for Pats

Spring has sprung for Pats

Freshman group a plus, injuries a downer

Sports Editor On Monday afternoon at Patriot Stadium, a subtle command by third-year head coach Jed Davis made a big statement to onlookers, as well as the coach himself.

Marion’s practice was scheduled to begin promptly at 2:45 p.m. and at that time, David ordered his troops to meet on the oversized “Flying Elvis” mascot head that adorns the 50-yard line at the field.

Nearly at once, the assembled Patriots broke for the rendezvous spot.

“I loved it, that’s what we’ve been wanting to get done here for a while now,” Davis, a Beebe native, said on Tuesday.

“I’m really pleased with our older guys because we haven’t had to spend time coaching up effort, or paying attentions, or attitudes.

They’ve come in knowing what to do. We feel like we just walked off the field during week 8 of the season, so that’s been really good.”

Last week opened Davis’s third spring in Marion after beginning his head coaching career at Mayflower, and as the cohesiveness on and away from the field has built, so too has the results on Friday night.

Marion went just 1-10 in 2014, the first year of the Davis era, but last season saw the Pats finish with a 5-7 mark, the schools’ best mark since 2011.

The five wins also matched the combined total for Marion from 2012-2014.

So what is Davis most excited about so far in the spring?

“I have been really pleased with the 9thgraders that have moved up with us thus far. Their work ethic and dedication has been awesome,” explains the coach. “Some kids think sometimes that ‘Hey, I’m not really gonna get to play a lot. I’ll come back my junior year,’ but that’s the craziest thing ever because you’re not getting months worth of reps and you want to come back in a year or two and play? It’s not gonna happen. So, that’s a hard thing for 14 or 15-year-old to understand.”

Those freshmen enter the high school ranks following a two-year run in junior high after going 15-3, highlighted by a 9-0 outright 6A-East district title last fall. They leave behind an 11-game winning streak.

It’s just the spring, but there are a few things that haven’t pleased Davis yet.

“You never want to get anyone hurt, especially at spring practice. So far, we’ve had a guy fracture a foot, we’ve had some sprained ankles, and that hurts because we’re not getting to see those guys out there,” Davis says.

“We’ve had plenty of breakdowns, both pass protection and secondary coverage. We still drop too many footballs and miss tackles, but that’s really what spring is for. I can live with a missed tackle or block now, as long as we see effort and attentiveness to detail.”

Marion will hold its annual spring game on Friday, May 20 at Patriot Stadium. The event will start at 5:30 p.m. when the 7th and 8th graders will play a sevenon- seven game, followed the announcement of all football players in the program, grades 7-12 and the senior high varsity will play its spring game at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free to all.

By Chuck Livingston