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Football: Turned over: Panthers' takeaways pace rout of FM Marcus
By Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
FLOWER MOUND - The Flower Mound Marcus football team just couldn't get out of its own way Friday night.
And in failing to do so, the Marauders (0-4) gave Plano East (4-0) - the area's top offense - a myriad of extra possessions that were cashed in more often than not in a 38-17 Panthers victory.
"Every game there are breakdowns here and there, but that's with every team that's ever played the sport in Texas," said Johnny Ringo, East head coach. "But obviously the chance to be 4-0 is very big for us at this point."
That much was evident one play into the second quarter when junior running back Mark Demery was stuffed for a minus 2-yard run in the end zone for a safety that gave East a 9-7 lead. Things spiraled downward from there with the Marauders fumbling the ball four times - and losing three - in the second stanza alone and six times total.
"When you fumble four times in three series in a row, you're not going to win games that way," said Bryan Erwin, Marcus head coach. "We felt like we could move the ball against these guys and we did, but it was just a sad display of football."
The Panthers were more than willing to capitalize, courtesy of third-string sophomore quarterback Taylor McGehee.
With senior starter Mario Smalls hampered by an ankle injury, McGehee was tasked into duty and responded amiably, breaking off a 32-yard touchdown run with 8:25 left in the first half for a 16-7 lead. After another lost fumble by Marcus sophomore signal caller Cade Erwin gave East a 25-yard field late in the half, McGehee struck again - this time in the form of a 25-yard burst that padded the Panthers' cushion to 24-7 by the break.
McGehee led the Panthers' ground attack with 81 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries.
"[McGehee's] strength is his speed and he's always a threat to go," Ringo said. "He does have great speed and it's great to have a backup like him."
"We were happy to see [McGehee] in there instead of [Smalls]," Erwin added. "There's no excuse for that, though, we just need to tackle better."
Smalls, who was seen on crutches after the game, returned to action in the second half and threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns on 18-of-25 attempts. The highlight was a downfield strike to senior Parker Hunt, who brushed off Marcus junior Tanner Rutz and took off for a 54-yard touchdown on East's first possession of the third quarter - a series set up by a lost Marcus fumble in the East red zone.
"[Marcus] gave some of those to us on mishandling exchanges and what not," Ringo said, "but you still have to come up with those and that was great for us to take advantage of those situations."
Hunt led all targets with 122 yards and two touchdowns on six catches while senior Collin Shaw chipped in 65 yards on five receptions.
The Panthers extended that cushion to 38-7 early in the fourth quarter when senior Ricky Ilodianya converted on a 2-yard rush. The Marauders halted East's run at 31 unanswered points one series later when Erwin found junior Blake Bowling for a 23-yard touchdown on a screen pass with 8:23 left in the game.
It was Marcus' first touchdown since the team's opening series; an 11-play, 85-yard drive that featured seven carries for 62 yards by Demery - including a 2-yard rushing score by the back.
Enjoying his bulk of the rushing load in the first half, Demery finished with 92 yards on 14 carries while senior Wyatt Verret took the reins over in the final two quarters to finish with 132 yards on 14 carries.
Erwin chipped in 88 rushing yards on 15 carries to go along with 93 yards passing and a touchdown on 7-of-13 attempts.
But despite finishing with 416 total yards to East's 420, the Marauders find themselves entering the bye week at 0-4 for the first time under Erwin.
"We just have to keep working and stay the course," he said. "We have to keep doing the things we've done for six years; we know they work and that they're time-tested. We just have to keep working."
The Panthers, meanwhile, won't return to action until Oct. 12 for a 7:30 p.m. matchup at Kimbrough Stadium against Allen.
"It's almost like preparing for a bowl game with the number of days off we have," Ringo said. "We've got some things to work on fundamental-wise and technique-wise, but we're treating this like it's Aug. 13 again and we're starting over."
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