Marion fell behind big in the first half and dropped a 43-24 decision to Remington during the first round of district play Friday.
The home team controlled the line of scrimmage early, rendering the Warrior offense ineffective through most of the contest. Marion was without leading rusher Les Riggs because of injury.
?We?ve got to come out right from the opening gun and be ready to play,? coach Grant Thierolf said of the slow start. ?There?s no reason for that.?
Meanwhile, the Bronco offense proved potent, racking up 37 first-half points.
?I think that was the most lackadaisical football we?ve played all year,? Thierolf said. ?Obviously, we didn?t have them prepared as coaches. But the kids need to prepare themselves.?
On the first play of the Bronco?s first possession, Caleb Cherryholmes threw 41 yards to Jake Green for a first down at the Warrior 6-yard line. Luke Igo then ran for a 2-yard score. Dakin Ledford blocked the Juan Garcia PAT kick giving Remington a 6-0 advantage 2:45 in to the contest.
The Broncos scored again when Cherryholmes ran for 10-yards before throwing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Green. The quarterback then ran for two points and Remington led 14-0 with 2:43 left in the first quarter.
Converting its initial first down of the game on the ensuing drive, Marion moved the ball to the Remington 25. But a Richmond fumble on third down was recovered by the Broncos with 10:00 to play in the half.
Remington then scored on fourth down at the 7:04 mark of the first half on a 1-yard Cherryholmes run and a 2-point pass to Matt Jacobs for a 22-0 lead with 5:48 left in the half.
After recovering another Warrior fumble, the Broncos made it 30-0 with 3:15 left when Cherryholmes found Jacobs another touchdown pass. Remington converted the 2-point try.
The Broncos? final points of the half came on a field goal with 21 seconds left.
The second half saw scoring from both sides, but the game never was in doubt as Reming?ton scored the first touchdown for a 43-0 advantage.
Marion got on the board with a 5-yard Richmond run and 2-point pass to Ledford with 9:34 in the third quarter, then again on a 47-yard reception by Jordan Versch, who made the spectacular grab despite drawing a pass-interference flag.
Caleb Williams ran in the 2-point PAT to shrink the Remington lead to 43-16.
The final score of the game was by Cole Lewman on a 1-yard quarterback keeper and Randy Regnier with a 2-point run.
The Broncos finished with 367 yards of total offense, 201 coming from the arm of Cherryholmes, who also ran for 88 rushing yards on 17 attempts.
Filling in for the injured Riggs, freshman Caleb Williams picked up 68 yards on 21 carries.
With the win, Remington (4-2, 1-0, 5-2) clinched third in the Heart of America League and leads District 9 play with a 1-0 record and 13 points. Hillsboro is second after a 39-27 win at Southeast of Saline.
Coming?Marion (3-3, 0-1, 4-3) will host Southeast of Saline (0-1, 3-4) Friday.
