Since joining the Mid-Central Activities Association in 2004, Marion has gone 5-1 against the Lyons Lions. Those games have been close, including 14-7 in 2004, 35-34 in OT in 2006, and 7-6 in 2008. In the final year of the soon-to-be-defunct league, Marion gave Lyons a going-away present it didn’t want in a 34-7 defeat.
In the Friday night home-opener the Warriors out-gained Lyons 301-169 on the ground and rushed for four scores to start 1-0 in the league and overall.
Sophomore Colten Johnson accounted for the first Warrior score of the season with a nifty 13-yard run with one minute, 38 seconds left in the opening quarter. Johnson started left, was forced to the sideline, then turned it back up field, fighting through two tacklers before falling into the end zone.
He finished the game with 30 yards on six carries to go along with the score.
From that drive on, the Warriors continued to run the ball down the Lions’ throats. MHS attempted just one pass all game. However, when junior quarterback Matt Sprowls did drop back to pass, he completed a 28-yard strike to senior tight end Nick Klenda.
But the ground game was the bread and butter for MHS. Whether it was Sheldon Boone (144 yards), Drew Maddox (73), Les Riggs (21), Sprowls (36), or Johnson, it didn’t seem to matter. As a team Marion rushed for 301 yards on 46 carries for an average of 6.5 yards per carry.
The second and third quarter belonged to Sprowls and Boone as they accounted for three touchdown runs. Sprowls plunged in from 1 yard out for the second score of the game with 2:16 left until halftime. Boone then had his first of two scores with 55 seconds until the break with a 1-yard run of his own to give the Warriors a 21-0 lead heading into the locker room.
Lyons was never able to get into a groove, relying too heavily on quarterback Jake Craig to carry the load.
The senior threw for 95 yards and ran for 139 and a touchdown, but also threw two interceptions. He would eventually score a touchdown for Lyons in the third quarter, but not before Boone rumbled in from 6 yards out with 8:36 left in the third.
The Warrior defense decided to get into the act late in the fourth when senior defensive back Mitch Cady intercepted a Craig pass and returned it 20 yards for a score. In all, the Warrior defense held Craig to just seven completions in 21 attempts.
Sprowls finished 1-1 with 28 yards while Boone led the team on the ground, gaining his 144 yards and two scores on just 20 carries. Maddox had the highest average per rush (8.1) after gaining his 73 yards on nine carries.
The Warriors will take on Collegiate Friday at Wichita. The Spartans, who went undefeated in the regular season last year, are coming off a 56-28 drubbing of league foe Nickerson this past week. Last season, the Warriors lost to Collegiate, 28-19, on their home field.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.