What started out as a tough night ended up all smiles for the slew
of Marion fans that turned out for the finale on a bitterly cold
evening, and the Warrior faithful were treated to a pair of fantastic
touchdown catches by Chase Carlson in the waning moments.
Under a
full moon, the senior split end out-ran the coverage and timed his leap
perfectly, coming down with the ball 3 yards deep in the end zone along
the Warrior sideline. Charlie Holub battered home the 2-point
conversion run, and Marion had its first points of the night 20 seconds
into the fourth quarter.
A false start on third-and-short brought
the Swather punter into the game for the second time, and the snap
sailed over his head, putting the Warriors back in business with 3:50
to go. After runs by Sheldon Boone and Mitchel Leppke put Marion
first-and-10 at the 20 yard line, Leppke uncorked a high throw toward
Justin Heidebrecht, who was running along the goal line. The pass
sailed high over Heidebrecht's head, and Carlson came across unmarked
from the right sideline, diving a fraction too late to make the grab.
On
the next play, Carlson lined up inside of Heidebrecht, and the
receivers crossed? paths, with Carlson heading to the front right
corner of the end zone. A Swather defensive back was in the area, but
Carlson used excellent position and timing to make his second touchdown
catch of the evening. Senior kicker Pascal Otterbach came on for the
point-after and banged it high and straight and true, marking the final
score at 42-15.
?Hesston took the opening kickoff and ran four
plays before Brett Liechty uncorked a 52-yard spiral to Lee
Voth-Gaeddert for a 7-0 lead. Marion fumbled three plays into its first
possession, giving Hesston first-and-10 at the Warrior 39. A 38-yard
run down the Hesston sideline by Rob Moore set up a 1-yard plunge with
7:45 to go in the first. Having kicked the point after Moore's
touchdown, the Swathers led 14-0.
Marion ran seven plays and
punted, and Moore returned the kick to the Hesston 36. Liechty broke a
14-yard run on first down to cross into Warrior territory, and the
Swathers scored again six seconds into the second quarter, making it
21-0 on a 5-yard pass from Liechty to Voth-Gaeddert.
?Marion ran
four plays and punted, with Luke Gordon's high-arcing kick taking the
unluckiest possible bounce to set Hesston up with good field position
again. Five plays later, Voth-Gaeddert took a reverse handoff and
sprinted 26-yards around the left end of the Warrior line for the 28-0
tally.
Michael Petrocci broke a 32-yard touchdown run after the
Warriors went 3-and-out at 6:01. Starting at the Hesston 45, Petrocci
carried four times in a row, breaking loose and scoring with 4:22 left.
Another Marion 3-and-out led to a 17-yard touchdown run by Landon
Unruh, making it 42-0 with six seconds left in the first half.
It
was a markedly different game in the second half, both because of the
running clock and because the Warriors were by far the more tenacious
team from the first moments of the third frame. Marion came out
throwing, with Leppke completing a 9-yard pass to Carlson before
unloading a long spiral in Carlson's direction. The pass was
intercepted, but the Marion defense stifled the Swathers on three
straight plays to set up Hesston's first punt with 4:15 to go in the
third.
Carlson's first touchdown was the eighth play of the
ensuing drive, and the Warrior defense shut down the Hesston subs in
their last appearance of the season. Carlson's second touchdown was
Marion's final play of the year on offense, and the game ended with the
Warrior special teams throwing a Swather kick returner to the turf.
Marion
finished 4-5 and Hesston wrapped up the regular season with a perfect
9-0 mark. The Swathers begin bi-district play on Tuesday.
