The Warriors, whose season ended with a 35-21 loss to the Swathers, learned something about overcoming early adversity, making coaches and teammates proud of their effort, finding out you don't always come out on top-and sometimes you get kicked when you're down.

"We knew it was going to be a tough struggle all night long," coach Grant Thierolf said. "All a coach can ask is to play as hard as you can play, and I thought our kids left everything on the field."

Adversity struck on the third play of the game when Marion senior lineman Drew Looper dislocated his shoulder.

"I was proud of our young kids who came in for the ones who got injured," Thierolf said. "We replaced them with kids who came in and played as hard as they could-and you can't ask for any more than that.

"I was really proud of Kyle Hett and Dale Vogel," he added. "Those two guys had to shift positions and, in places, we were outsized tremendously on the line."

After each team failed to convert its first possession, fleet-footed Reed Hammond returned a Josh Smith punt 55 yards to the Marion 30-yard line.

Eight plays later, Brandon Liechty scored from eight yards out to put Hesston on top, 7-0, with 4:29 left in the first quarter.

The touchdown was the first of five for Liechty, who would carry the ball 31 times for 198 yards before the night was through.

After an exchange of possessions, the Warriors put together an impressive 73-yard drive that was highlighted by Josh Kelsey's 25-yard run.

Facing third-and-4 from the Hesston 7-yard line, Nelson again lost the handle on the ball. Hesston recovered it at the 5.

"Turnovers hurt us," Thierolf said. "We really haven't turned the ball over much this year. "Sometimes kids try to make plays, and that happens. But I'm not going to fault them for that a bit. That stuff just happens."

With the wind at its back, Hesston put together a 10-play drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Liechty with 3:13 left in the first half.

Even though trailing, 14-0, Marion refused to let its playoff hopes die easily. With the ball on the Marion 20, Nelson took the handoff on first down and raced 70 yards down the Marion sideline before Hammond ran him down at the Swather 10.

On fourth-and-goal from a yard out, Nelson skirted the left side and into the end zone with 43 seconds left in the half. Kelsey then hit Smith with the 2-point conversion pass to cut Hesston's lead to 14-8.

The score remained unchanged at halftime after Hesston's Mitch Mason barely missed a 49-yard field-goal attempt with a howling wind at his back.

The second half began with some Warrior fireworks when Nelson took a third-and-5 handoff and raced 61 yards for a score.

"Casey has done that for us all year long," Thierolf said. "He's a hard runner, he's tough to bring down, he has good speed and he's consistent. But he had some offensive linemen block pretty well for him tonight."

Heidebrecht kicked the extra point, and Marion led the stunned Swathers, 15-14, less than two minutes into the half.

The game got even more interesting when the ensuing kickoff bounced off a member of Hesston's return team and was recovered by the Warriors at the Hesston 46-yard line.

Runs by Nelson, Jason Hett and Kelsey moved the ball to the 6-yard line, where Nelson ran in his third touchdown. A mishandled snap foiled the extra-point attempt, but Marion led 21-14 lead with 8:45 left in the third quarter.

But Hesston wasn't ready to end its season, either. The Swathers ground out a 13-play drive, overcoming an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty along the way, and scored on a Liechty seven-yard run with 3:04 left in the quarter to tie the score at 21.

Thierolf said his short-handed defense simply wore down.

"We had some kids who weren't used to playing on both sides of the ball," he said. "They stepped up and played as hard as they could for as long as they could, and I'm not going to fault our effort one bit."

Marion's offense showed signs of fatigue when, on the its next possession, four plays netted 15 yards and forced a punt with 55 seconds left in the quarter.

Hesston took possession on its 20-yard line. Aided by a Warrior pass-interference penalty, the Swathers marched 80 yards in eight plays, scoring on a Liechty seven-yard run. With the kick, Hesston regained the lead at 28-21 with 8:24 left to play.

After failing to move the ball on offense, the Warrior defense created one last opportunity for the offense to put points on the board. But when Kelsey and Nelson misconnected on a pitch, Hesston recovered the ball with 3:23 to play.

At that point, Marion couldn't stop the Swathers, who earned a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line with less than a minute to play.

Instead of having his team take a knee and allow time to run out gracefully, Coach Danny Adelhardt pushed for a pointless touchdown. Liechty scored it from six yards out with just 28 seconds to play.

"I don't think the 14-point margin was indicative of the game-I think a seven-point spread was, but that wasn't my decision," Thierolf said.

Marion out-rushed the Swathers, 324 to 265, but Hesston added 125 yards passing compared to just three for Marion.

With 216 yards on 21 carries, Nelson amassed 1,193 yards rushing for the season on 203 carries.

Defensively, Kelsey had 16 tackles while Chris Freeby recorded 12 stops and Michael Brookens added 11, two for losses.

In retrospect, Thierolf said the season which produced a division championship and a 6-3 record had many satisfying moments.

"We're not as happy right now as we could be, but I was proud of our kids," he said. "Overall, this was a very good group of kids to work with. We had very few problems, and we had great leadership from our seniors."

Playing their final game in a Warrior uniform were Chris Freeby, Heidebrecht, Looper, Dale Vogel and Smith.

"What we ask of our kids is an awful lot of work and these five never backed away from that," Thierolf said. "Leadership doesn't come naturally for this group, but they stepped out of their element to be leaders."