Staff writer
“We didn’t make enough plays,” Marion High School coach Grant Thierolf said after the Warriors 22-0 loss to Hillsboro Thursday in Hillsboro.
The quote was a repeating chorus to Thierolf’s postgame remarks. Although the game was a defensive struggle, when opportunity knocked, Hillsboro was able to open the door.
The first quarter passed with no score. The teams traded fourth down stops inside the red zone. With the Warriors inside the Trojan 20-yard line, the Hillsboro defense stopped two Les Riggs runs for a combined two yards and a Brody Carroll carry for another two yards. A false start on the Marion offensive line pushed the Warriors back five yards and eventually led to an incomplete pass.
On the ensuing Hillsboro possession, the Trojans marched down the field to the 10-yard line. The Warrior defense recovered to stop Chance Reece, holding him to a one-yard gain and forcing incomplete passes intended for Ben Bebermeyer in both the northwest and east corners of the end zone. Marion defenders blocked the field goal try and recovered the ball past the 30-yard line.
The teams traded punts to end the opening quarter.
Marion’s opening drive of the second quarter was the possession that changed the game. After an incomplete pass intended for Cole Lewman, Randy Regnier ran a right-side sweep for a first down. Les Riggs gained no yards on the Warriors next carry. Colten Johnson’s first carry after returning from a left-leg injury resulted in a tackle for a loss. In a third-and-long situation, Richmond dropped back to pass. He lofted the ball to Dakin Ledford who seemed to be open, drifting on a corner route to the Warrior sideline. Ben Bebermeyer sprinted from the middle of the field and — while the pass was in the air — positioned himself in front of Ledford, timed his jump to meet Ledford at his apex, and caught the pass for an interception in front of the Marion tight end.
Trojan quarterback Luke Moore picked up 20 yards on the ground and threw to Aaron Klassen for a 10-yard gain on third-and-9. A screen pass to Reece put the Trojans in scoring territory, aided by a block by Daniel Kenney that took out two Warriors converging for a tackle.
Reece ran 10 yards for another first down before running up the middle into the end zone for a 9-yard rushing touchdown. Marion blocked the subsequent kick by Ben Gardner.
The Warriors charged back on offense. Richmond picked up a first down on the ground, aided by a clearing block by David Helmer. Richmond threw deep to Lewman running up the west sideline. With the ball hanging in the air, Lewman battled for position with Bebermeyer. Lewman won the contest with Bebermeyer falling to the turf, allowing for a 28-yard gain. Regnier gained six yards on a right-side sweep, but Richmond was stopped for no gain on the next run. Johnson gained about three yards on third down to leave the Warriors only a yard short of a first down. After a Marion timeout, Richmond was tackled in the backfield by Klassen with 1 minute, 54 seconds left in the half.
“It was bad play calls,” Thierolf said of the fourth down stops in the red zone. “We didn’t call plays they could make. We didn’t make plays when we needed to.”
Hillsboro was not deterred with the lack of time on the clock. Dylan Delk caught a Moore pass up the east sideline for a 20-yard gain. The Trojans picked up another 20 yards on a Bebermeyer reception between two Warrior defenders on a straight-line route up the east sideline. Gardner split the uprights with a 23-yard field goal to end the half, 10-0.
The Trojans started the second half with the ball. After two timely Adam Cope tackles and an incomplete pass, Hillsboro was forced to punt. Illegal formation was called on the offense and Thierolf elected to have Hillsboro kick again. On the second kick, Marion defenders flew to the ball to block the punt and a Marion player dove into the punter before the ball left the kicker’s foot. Roughing the kicker was called, giving Hillsboro a first down.
On the next play, Reece ran for a 45-yard touchdown on a left-side sweep. Reece ended the game with 147 yards rushing. Marion blocked the kick to make the score, 16-0.
The Warriors went on the attack. Richmond launched a bomb to Lewman who caught a 25-yard pass up the west sideline. Lewman ended the game with three catches for 79 yards. Again in the Hillsboro red zone, Marion could not convert. Tyrell Thiessen stuffed a Regnier run and Bebermeyer broke up a pass to Ledford in the northeast corner. On fourth down, Lewman tried to tiptoe on the northwest corner to haul in the pass but landed out of bounds.
Marion recovered a Hillsboro fumble off a high snap to have one more offensive chance before the third quarter closed. Dropping back to pass and seeing no open receivers, Richmond rolled to his right to avoid the Hillsboro rush. Thiessen caught up to Richmond and delivered a jarring tackle to the Marion quarterback as he was throwing off his back foot along the east sideline. The pass was intercepted.
Marion forced Hillsboro to punt to start the fourth quarter. On the punt return, Mikael Antoszyk called for the fair catch, but the ball passed through his fingers and hit the turf. Thiessen recovered near the Marion goal line. The ball was moved back to the 15-yard line where Moore completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Gardner in the northwest corner of the end zone, making the score 23-0.
The Trojans continued to clamp down on defense, not relenting any points to Marion. The Warriors finished with 203 total yards of offense to Hillsboro’s 320 total yards.
Thierolf said the team never gave up on the game and that is how he and the Marion coaching staff will choose to remember the team.
“They’re great kids. They play as hard as they can play. They don’t give up,” Thierolf said.
Hillsboro loses Tuesday
The Trojans had a tough go of it Tuesday night against Garden Plain. The Owls jumped out to a 41-0 lead in the first half. Trojan running back Chance Reece suffered a broken collarbone at the end of the first quarter after a bone-jarring hit.