Prep Football: Marion makes quick work of Bulldogs
The Marion Wildcats were happy to be home. So happy in fact, they took out two weeks of frustrations on the Harrisburg Bulldogs, rolling to a 42-0 win Friday nigh in a non-conference football game.
Marion scored just 1:50 into the game and never looked back in improving to 1-2. Harrisburg fell to 0-3.
"It's a great way to snap out of it," said Marion coach Kerry Martin.k "We just haven't looked very good the first two weeks. I know we've played two pretty good teams but it was more than that. We just didn't play well, we just didn't execute with much confidence. There was a big change tonight."
The Wildcats set the tone early. After stopping Harrisburg on a 3-and-out to start the game, Xavier Cambric returned Noah Velette's punt 35 yards to the Harrisburg 15. Braden Ziegler scored on the first play from scrimmage.
"We straightened some things out in practice this week," Martin said. "And it was great to see the kids come out and play the kind of football we hope they would play all year."
Marion got four more touchdowns in the first half while holding Harrisburg to just 30 yards in total offense in the first half. The Wildcats got a 1-yard run by Justin Nicholson mid-way through the first period.
Izak Baker threw touchdown passes of 37 yards to Mike Bradshaw and 39 yards to Brandon Osborne and Ziegler added an 11-yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats a 35-0 halftime lead.
Ziegler's 12-yard touchdown run with 8:01 left in the third quarter capped off the scoring and set the running clock in motion.
Baker finished the night going 8-for-11 for 148 yards and two touchdowns, completing passes to seven different receivers. Ziegler had 75 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries.
Harrisburg managed just 97 yards in the game, all on the ground. Aaron Stephens led the Bulldogs with 31 yards and Sean Crisenbery added 27.
"We weren't very physical week one," Martin said. "We were much, much more physical tonight and that's what you have to be to win. We just had a better team effort all around. Our offense, defense and special teams played well tonight."
Harrisburg 0 0 0 0 -- 0
Marion 14 21 7 0 -- 42
Scoring Summary
M - Braden Ziegler 18-yard run. Mitchell Wilkie kick. 1Q 10:10
M - Justin Nicholson 1-yard run. Wilkie kick. 1Q 5:52
M - Izak Baker 37-yard pass to Mike Bradshaw. Wilkie kick. 2Q 8:39
M - Baker 39-yard pass to Brandon Osborne. Wilkie kick. 2Q 6:00
M - Ziegler 11-yard run. Wilkie kick. 2Q 3:15
M - Ziegler 12-yard run. Wilkie kick. 3Q 8:01
H M
First Downs 6 12
Total Yards 97 262
Rushes-Yards 46-97 27-105
Passing Yards 0 157
Comp-Att-Int 0-3-0 9-12-0
Penalties 2-20 4-55 Fumbles-Lost 5-2 2-2
Punts-Yards 5-144 1-40
RUSHING - H - Aaron Stephens 11-31, Sean Crisenbery 11-27, Jaxon Karnoski 5-23, Tylor Marler 5-14, Lucian Hicks 4-9, Austin Lowry 2-6, Noah Valette 4-(-2), Corbin Crim 1-(-8). M - Braden Ziegler 13-75 3TD, Xavier Cambric 4-12, Jake Schmid 2-8, Mike Bradshaw 1-5, Adolph Paulson 1-5, Izak Baker 4-4, Justin Nicholson 1-1 TD.
PASSING - H - Noah Valette 0-3-0 0 yards. M - Izak Baker 8-11-0 148 yards 2 TD, Jake Schmid 1-1-0 9 yards.
RECEIVING - M - Brandon Osborne 2-50 TD, Mike Bradshaw 1-37 TD, Hunter Lincoln 1-25, Seth Bayer 1-20, Adolph Paulson 1-9, Braden Ziegler 1-8, Zach Nave 1-6, Derae Andrews 1-2.