Marion drops game to Douglass

The Marion football team lost a non-league game at Douglass Friday, 50-38.

Although the Warriors recorded more yards of offense than Douglass—442 to the Bulldogs’ 379—Marion’s five turnovers proved costly.

“It’s one of those games that’s very frustrating,” coach Shaun Craft said. “You look at the stats and you’re like, ‘We were better than them in every category except for turnovers.’”

Marion put the first points on the board when Chase Stringer rushed for an 18-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter, but the Bulldogs answered with a 67-yard touchdown run just a little more than a minute later. The teams were knotted in an 8-8 tie when the first quarter ended.

The Warriors took a 16-8 lead early in the second quarter, but again the Bulldogs responded. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving Marion clinging to a 16-14 lead with 10:46 left in the half.

But Douglass scored two touchdowns to Marion’s one after that—the Warriors scored on a 7-yard touchdown run by Stringer—and the Bulldogs held a 28-24 halftime advantage.

Stringer completed a 66-yard touchdown pass to Sam Zinn early in the third quarter to give Marion a 32-28 lead, but by the end of the third quarter, Douglass had regained the advantage with a pair of touchdowns, 44-32.

“We had two turnovers back to back that killed us in the second half,” Craft said. “We got the ball first to start the second half, and we drove down and we scored right away, and everything was looking good. But then they came back and scored, and then our next two possessions were turnovers, and that killed momentum.”

Each team scored once in the fourth quarter. Marion scored on a 5-yard touchdown run by Stringer, which brought it to the final, 12-point spread.

Through the air, Stringer was 12-for-19 for 218 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He rushed for an additional 145 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. Zinn had seven receptions for 161 yards and one touchdown.

Craft continues to look for consistency.

“We’d make a great play on defense, then we’d give up a big play, so just consistency on defense is the big thing,” he said. “You can’t give up 50 points and expect to win many games.”

Coming—Marion (1-1, 1-2) will travel to Inman Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

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