Quick-Strike Marion County Too Much For Tyner

Warriors Score 3 TDs In First Quarter En Route To 25-6 Victory

  • Thursday, September 29, 2016
  • John Hunt
Marion County running back Hunter McClain (40) breaks free for long yardage as Tyner's D'arius Albert (20) races to track him down in Thursday's night contest at Finley Stadium. The Warriors came away with a 25-6 win over the Rams.
Marion County running back Hunter McClain (40) breaks free for long yardage as Tyner's D'arius Albert (20) races to track him down in Thursday's night contest at Finley Stadium. The Warriors came away with a 25-6 win over the Rams.
photo by Dennis Norwood

The Marion County Warriors didn’t do a whole lot offensively in the second half, but they more than made up for it in the first half as they defeated the Tyner Rams by a 25-6 final at Finley Stadium Thursday night.

The Warriors were forced to punt on their first possession, but they scored touchdowns on their next four possessions and that was more than enough to secure a big region win and stay atop the Region 3-AA standings with a 6-1 record overall and a perfect 4-0 in region play.

Tyner is now 1-5 overall and 1-2 in region play.

The Warriors played inspired football offensively in the first half as they put points on the board in a hurry.  Two of those touchdown drives took less than a minute while those first three TDs were all scored within a span just over four minutes.

The Warriors had the advantage of 19-0 when the first quarter ended and 25-0 at intermission. They were content to let the defense take over in the second half.

“That was a good win as we had a great first half, but we didn’t block as well in the second half,” Marion County coach Joey Mathis told his kids as they took a knee on the south end of  Gordon Davenport Field following the game.

“I’ll take an ugly win any day of the week, but we knew we’d get Tyner’s best effort.  We played really well in spots, but we just didn’t have as much intensity on offense in the second half as we weren’t able to match Tyner’s effort.

“Our defense played lights out again as we expect good things from them.  We made them earn their yards, but you just can’t let a team like Tyner hang around,” the first-year head coach added.

Tyner coach Wayne Turner liked what he saw from his kids in the second half, but it was just a case of too little too late against a veteran group from Jasper.

“We made way too many mistakes in the first half and they capitalized, but Marion County has a fine football team,” Turner praised the opposition.

“We executed a lot better in the second half as we were able to get a little more going, but we’ve had our ups and downs all year.  I was pleased with the effort and hustle in the second half.  It’s one of those things where we play well for the first half and bad in the second or something like that. 

“We haven’t been able to put four good quarters together in the same game yet and we need to keep working on that, but we still have a good shot of making the playoffs and I’ll be tickled if we can get there,” the veteran coach nodded.

The Warriors were content to run the football and control the clock in the first half.

Hunter McClain, who led the Marion County ground game with 126 yards on 17 carries, scored the first touchdown on a run from the 4 with 6:38 left in the opening stanza. Houston McElroy booted the extra point for a quick 7-0 lead.

An interception by Marion’s Nick Capps at the 35 put the Warriors in business again and it took just 1:55 to move those 35 yards in six plays.  Hunter Zeman scored on a sweep to the left from the 7 and the difference was 13-0 with 3:54 left in the quarter after the extra point was wide left.

It took the Warriors all of 39 seconds to move 14 yards in three plays for the third TD as Jacob Saylors made the big play when he tackled the Tyner punter at the 14 following a bad snap.

Saylors then scored on a burst off right tackle for a 19-0 lead with 2:29 still in the first quarter.

Tyner got a nice kickoff return from Keiontae Halfacre as the Rams started at their own 41.  A 39-yard pass from Jaylen Bowens to Ke’un Webb was the big play in the drive, but the Rams came away empty when Bowens was stopped for a one-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 3.

That’s when Marion had its longest drive of the game.

Moving 96 yards in nine plays, the Warriors scored their final touchdown with 7:11 left before halftime. Sophomore quarterback Isaah Sampson hooked up with Zeman on a short swing pass to the right that the speedy senior took the distance and the 66-yard play made it 25-0.

Tyner was able to avoid the shutout with a touchdown on the fourth play of the final quarter when Shaylan Bailey connected with Martavius Ryals for a TD pass play from the 5.  Ismael Avila then blocked the extra point with 10:40 to play as neither team scored the rest of the way.

The Warriors finished with 324 total yards compared to 218 for the Rams.

While McClain was the leading rusher for Marion with his 126 yards, Saylors added 76 on a dozen attemts while Zeman finished with 37 yards on eight carries.

Zeman, McClain and Kane Hale all had one pass reception, but Zeman’s was the longest at 66 yards.

Tyner’s total included 167 yards through the air as Bailey completed 16 of 28 passes with two interceptions. 

Webb was the leading receiver with 87 yards on seven grabs while Bowens added 40 yards on three catches.

Halfacre was the leading rusher with 22 yards on seven carries while Darius Albert had 19 yards, also on seven attempts.

The Warriors had nine first downs in the first half and finished the game with a dozen while Tyner finished with 10 after picking up only four in the first half.

Tyner will be at home next week to host Bledsoe County while Marion will be back in Chattanooga to face Silverdale.

MARION CO.  19  6  0  0  --  25

TYNER  0  0  0  6  --  6

MAR – Hunter McClain 4 run (Houston McElroy kick), 6:38 left in first;

MAR – Hunter Zeman 7 run (kick wide left), 3:54 left in first;

MAR – Jacob  Saylors 3 run (run failed), 2:29 left in first;

MAR – Zeman 66 pass from Isaah Sampson (run failed), 7:11 left in second;

TY – Martavius Ryals 5 pass from Shaylan Bailey (kick blocked), 10:40 left in fourth.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com) 

Marion County defensive lineman Manny Burkes (56) grabs hold of Tyner running back Ke'un Webb's (5) jersey as he goes for a tackle for a loss in the Ram backfield.
Marion County defensive lineman Manny Burkes (56) grabs hold of Tyner running back Ke'un Webb's (5) jersey as he goes for a tackle for a loss in the Ram backfield.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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