Marion runs over Lyons

The Warriors ran all over Lyons behind senior runningback Colten Johnson in last night?s home opener. Marion?s football team shut out Lyons, 34-0, after leading by 21 points at the half. Johnson rushed for 238 yards and scored four touchdowns on 19 carries in the victory.

?He works awfully hard at what he does,? said head coach Grant Thierolf. ?He?s blessed with great vision. He runs the ball hard. His offensive line did a pretty good job blocking for him. His quarterback did a great job making the right reads. So, he?s the recipient of a whole lot of other people?s hard work. With that said, when your best player is your hardest worker, that?s a good thing.?

Marion set the tone for the game right out of the gate, driving down the field within minutes of receiving the kickoff. Johnson ran in on the third down for the touchdown, with 8:48 left in the first quarter. The extra point was no good, giving Marion a 6-0 lead.

Then the Warrior defense got its chance to shine, forcing a fumble on Lyons? 28 yard line only a couple plays later, which the Warriors recovered. Lyons almost managed to force a Warrior turnover on downs, but once again Johnson stepped up for Marion, nabbing a critical third-down conversion with seven minutes left to continue the drive off the fumble. Quarterback Cole Lewman leapt up over the top of the press 30 seconds later for the goal with 6:28 left. Mikael Antoszyk scurried round the sideline for the two-point conversion, giving Marion a 14-0 lead.

Lyons began to threaten on their next possession, breaking free for a long run to the Warriors’ 35 yard line. But Brody Carroll saved the touchdown and the Warrior defense again pushed Lyons back to midfield and forced a turnover on downs. Lewman completed a long pass to about the Lyons? 45 yard line, with 3:26 left in the quarter, and Johnson followed it up with a 10-yard run to the 35. Unfortunately, Carroll was unable to pull in a pass from Lewman near the 20 and the Warriors turned over the ball on downs.

Lyons again pressed the Warriors, running to the 25 yard line. Marion forced a fumble, but Lyons recovered the ball. Only a couple plays later, the Warriors again got their chance to score. After Marion forced a short punt, Antoszyk ran the ball in to the 25 for a first down. He ran again to near the goal line with 2:28 left in the half, and Johnson ran in for the touchdown with just over a minute left. Grif Case drove the ball through the uprights to give the Warriors a 21-0 lead at halftime.

If Lyons hoped to bounce back in the second half, Marion?s Johnson quickly put an end to that notion. With 9:44 left in the third quarter, Johnson took the ball near midfield and ran away from the field into the end zone, helping Marion to a 28-0 lead.

Marion did falter a bit late in the game, making a couple costly penalties with five minutes left. Lyons intercepted a pass at midfield, but once again Johnson was there, making the stop.

?Yeah, in a big ball game we can?t have those,? Thierolf said. ?Some of them were lack of focus, some of them just come from being aggressive…you?re going to get those in a first game.  We had way more penalties than Lyons did, but that may be because we were more aggresive.?

Despite a few mistakes, the Warriors? finished strong, tacking on another Johnson touchdown for their 34-0 finish.

Coming up – The Warriors are scheduled to travel to Inman next Friday.

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