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Marauders tame Wolves, 42-14
BY Justin Thomas, jthomas@acnpapers.com
During the course of the 2010 season, Marcus’ football team has shown the ability to wear down teams by grinding out long drives rushing the football.
Friday, in their District 8-5A matchup against Plano West at Clark Stadium, the Marauders broke the Wolves’ back with one long run.
After stopping West on a fourth-and-7 from the Marcus 9-yard line early in the third quarter, Marauder running back Dagan Newsome busted loose for an 82-yard run setting up a 7-yard touchdown run by Rufus Mason to push what was a 14-point Marcus lead to 28-7.
“That was a big swing,” said Bryan Erwin, Marcus head coach. “We had a great drive to open the half and make it 21-7 and they came back with a great drive. We did not need to let them score a touchdown there and cut it back down to seven. That starts putting the pressure on us. But our defense bowed up in the red zone and got a big stop.”
Mason finished with 210 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries, while Newsome added 192 yards on 18 rushes leaving West (3-3, 0-3) still seeking its first win in district.
“The second half they wore us down,” said Mike Hughes, West head coach. “They’re a good team. They’re powerful. They just keep pounding you and wear on you and that back had a big run … they’re good.”
Things started well for the Wolves, who grabbed a 7-0 advantage with a 4-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Carson Smith that capped a 14-play, 90-yard drive that consumed nearly six minutes. The score was set up by a 33-yard reception on a jump-ball by junior receiver Carlos Wiggins that moved West to the Marcus 4-yard line.
However, the Wolves would not pick up another first down the rest of the half, including setting up a Marcus score with a fumble on their second drive.
“The first half the momentum swung a little bit when we fumbled the ball and they scored right after that,” Hughes said. “I believe it was 7-7 at that time and we went down 14-7. I thought we played well defensively the first half we just got to get something going offensively. The first drive I think we had 12 plays. Then we had a three-and-out and a two-and-out. We have to have those 10 or 12 play drives and we just didn’t have it tonight. We’ve got to have all 11 guys executing on the same page.”
The Marauders allowed 105 yards in the first half and 258 on the game. However, 80 of West’s yards came on the teams final drive with the Wolves already trailing, 42-7.
“(The first drive) was a big blow to our confidence because we really thought we had a good game plan coming in,” Erwin said. “We gave up three third-and-longs and it was kind of the same old story from last week. But we didn’t really make any adjustments. We had a great game plan and the kids executed better. They started fitting better, making plays and were great.”
While the confidence of Marcus’ defense may have been momentarily shaken, the offense quickly picked the team back up when quarterback Deion Sanders Jr. connected with receiver Cale Shriver for a 49-yard touchdown pass to knot the game, 7-7.
“We made some adjustments in our mode of attack tonight,” Erwin said. “We did more motion stuff and also taking some shots down field. We made a commitment to taking shots and the first touchdown we scored was on a big shot play. I think that’s huge to try to back some of these people off of us. If they don’t want to back off then we’ll take advantage of the weakness.”
Hughes acknowledged that West’s focus was stopping Marcus’ vaunted rushing attack.
“You load people up and get everyone in the box and try to stop the run,” he said. “Then all of the sudden they hit play-action and throw the ball deep. You have to load the box up and basically put your corners out there on an island.”
The Marauders continued to move the ball effectively in the first half but were victim of their own mistakes.
Marcus missed field goals of 42 and 44 yards, the latter of which was moved five yards back following a false start and missed at the buzzer as a 16-play, 76-yard drive that ate up the final 7:47 of the second quarter resulted in no points. Marcus also had two holding penalties on the drive, including one that negated what would have been a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line.
But in the second half, the offense got rolling.
Marcus opened the third with a 9-play, 62-yard touchdown drive finished off by a 13-yard touchdown run from Mason.
West’s ensuing drive went 11 plays, but ended with Marcus’ stand in the red zone.
After Mason’s third touchdown run of the night put Marcus up, 28-7, Sanders Jr. found Chase Lehner for an 18-yard touchdown pass before a 24-yard dash by Mason put the finishing touches on the win.
The Wolves received a spark late from sophomore running back Tim Okposin, who carried four times for 80 yards and a touchdown on West’s final drive, including a 66-yard scoring run.
West looks to bounce back at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it hosts Allen at Clark.
“We have to keep playing,” Hughes said. “We have four games left and our guys are tough and resilient. They’ll hang in there. We’re going to hurt tonight but go back in there tomorrow and get ready for the next game.”
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