SES quarterback too much for Warriors to overcome

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL
What started as a shootout at the OK Corral turned into a massacre at Little Big Horn Friday as the Southeast of Saline Trojans ambushed the previously undefeated Marion Warriors, 50-28.

Behind the dazzling running of quarterback Justin Schropp, who carried the ball 29 times for 154 yards, and his pinpoint passing, which generated 239 yards on 18-for-25 passing, Southeast handily secured the District 12 victory.

“Southeast just has weapons everywhere,” coach Grant Thierolf said. “I thought we could match up with them athletically on the edges, and at times we did. But we just didn’t get the pressure on Schropp we needed to get.”

Fans who filed into Steve Fritz Field barely found their seats before the Trojans fired the first volley. Southeast took the opening kickoff and drove 82 yards in six plays with Schropp scoring on a 34-yard run to take a 6-0 lead barely two minutes into the game.

But the Warriors countered with 69-yard, five-play drive with Casey Nelson zig-zagging the final 53 yards for the score.

When Jeff Richmond kicked the extra point, Marion led the shootout, 7-6.

Southeast fired back, as Schropp ran the ball three times for 13 yards and dissected the Warrior secondary on four consecutive passes, including a 21-yard touchdown reception by Nick Hardesty to give SES a 12-7 lead with 5:17 left in the quarter.

The Warriors’ next possession resulted in just one yard, forcing Marion to punt the ball back to the Trojans.

Southeast proceeded to grind out a 13-play drive that stretched into the second period. The Trojans scored on another pass from Schropp to Hardesty, this time from two yards out to push the lead to 20-7.

Jason Hett bobbled the ensuing kickoff and Marion was forced to begin its next drive on its own 6-yard line.

After Nelson gained three yards on first down, Kelsey called his own number on an option play. But Schropp, who proved to be a nemesis on defense too, stripped the ball from Kelsey and emerged from the pile for a 17-yard fumble return for a touchdown to give SES a 28-7 lead at the 10:27 mark of the first half.

Two Warrior punts later, Southeast started at the Marion 44-yard line and scored in only five plays with Schropp running in from seven yards out to put Southeast on top 34-7 with 2:02 left in the first half.

But Marion regained some dignity when Nelson covered 51 yards on a brilliant touchdown run behind the downfield blocking of Vondenkamp to cut the lead to 34-14 at halftime.

Thierolf said he offered no magic speeches at halftime, just common sense.

“The one thing we challenged our kids to do in the second half was to play as hard as they could, and I thought we did that,” he said.

Marion’s will was tested early in the half, though, when Nelson fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and Schropp recovered the ball for the Trojans at the Warrior 28-yard line.

Four plays later, Schropp scurried into the end zone to give Southeast a commanding 42-14 lead at the 9:16 mark.

“We could have given up at that point, but I think we can be proud of what we did in that situation,” Thierolf said. “Our kids responded.”

Facing first-and-10 on Marion’s 36-yard line, Kelsey attempted a pass in the flat that was ruled a lateral. Southeast recovered the ball.

But Richmond thwarted the Trojan scoring opportunity when he picked off a Schropp pass at the goal line.

That set up Marion’s most impressive drive of the evening- an eight-play, 99-yard effort that culminated in a one-yard burst by Nelson to whittle the lead to 42-21.

“Casey’s runs kept us in the game and our offensive line kept us in the game,” Thierolf said. “We told the kids at halftime that our best defense is going to be our offense. We had to try to keep the ball out of Schropp’s hands.”

An invigorated Warrior defense then forced the Trojans’ only punt of the game, which gave Marion the ball only 40 yards from the goal line as the third period ended.

Marion then launched another scoring drive, this time in five plays capped by a seven-yard pass from Kelsey to Jason Hett. Suddenly, the visiting Warriors were within two touchdowns at 42-28 with 9:50 remaining.

To give them a chance to get back into the game, the Warriors needed to shut down the high-octane Trojan offense. But Southeast responded with a 12-play, 77-yard drive that chewed up more than 6:30 and delivered the fatal blow on a 13-yard scoring pass from Schropp to Hardesty to push the lead to the final 50-28 margin.

Although Hardesty caught three passes for 36 yards and three touchdowns, junior wide receiver Bryson Flax was a key weapon with 11 receptions for 144 yards.

“They took advantage of some things we don’t do as well as we need to do,” Thierolf said of Schropp’s laser-like passing. “I thought the Flax kid was just outstanding.

“Obviously, if we had things to do differently, we’d defend them differently. But they’re going to give lots of teams trouble.”

Nelson led the Warriors’ rushing attack with 146 yards on 16 carries. Kelsey added 77 yards on nine carries and completed four of eight passes for 72 yards.

Southeast amassed 28 first downs to nine for Marion as the purple machine rolled up 480 yards of total offense.

“We’ll watch films and see what we need to work on because it’s still all about trying to get better,” Thierolf said. “Obviously, this game showed some things that we’re not doing as well as we need to do.”

On defense, Russell Ploutz had 12 tackles, Emmanuel Jackson added 11 and David DeForest 10.

With the loss, Marion is 6-1 overall and 0-1 in district play. The top two teams in each district advance to the next round of playoffs.

“You get put in a tough district and you’re going to play playoff-type teams each week,” Thierolf said. “It’s nice to still be able to make the playoffs, but we’re going to have to play a whole lot better than we did this week. But the opportunity is still there, so that’s a plus.”

Coming-Marion will host Hillsboro in another District 12 matchup. Both teams are seeking their first district win.

“We’re going into the Hillsboro game thinking we need to play better than we did this week,” Thierolf said. “We still have a lot of coaching to do and a lot of learning to do as a football team.

“We can’t control what anyone else does. All we can control is how much better we get next week.”

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