Marion ends bumpy season on 33-8 loss

More giveaways than touchdowns will always yield the same result on the football field. 

Turnovers were just one of several reasons the Warriors limped into the postseason for the second consecutive with a 2-6 record. 

The turnover bug reared its ugly head for the final time this year, biting Marion on Friday night during its game with the Uniontown Eagles, the District 1 runner-up. 

A trio of Warrior fumbles proved too much to overcome, as the Eagles put a frustrating Marion season to rest with a 33-8 victory. 

Marion again ends its season at 2-7; however, it eludes a second matchup with another Eagle team, second-ranked Olpe. 

Offensive struggles made overcoming a lead a tall order for the Warriors, and Uniontown jumped in front 6-0 seven minutes into action with quarterback Drew Perry taking off for one of his three touchdowns, an 85-yarder. 

Perry nearly outdid the Warriors’ 188-yard ground attack alone, finishing with a game-high 162 yards on 11 carries. 

With Marion already fumbling twice on its first three drives, losing one, the second one strapped the Warriors in for a miserable evening, losing the ball at the Eagle-34. 

Jake Harvey scooped it up and took it back 66 yards to open a 14-0 lead after the two-point conversion with 6:34 left in the first half. 

Marion had a chance to cut into the lead on the ensuing drive aided by a 49-yard run by Calib Mallory to set up a first-and-goal at the 6. 

Mallory carried the ball 13 times for a team-high 94 yards in his final game, spearheading the Warriors’ 188 yards on the ground and 247-yard output. 

While 247 yards is often enough to bring a victory, mistakes will make for tough sledding. 

Perry saw to it Marion wouldn’t make it into the break down only 14-0, scoring on a fourth-and-goal from the Warrior 6, stretching the Uniontown’s lead to 21-0 with 42 seconds still to go. 

The deficit would stretch to 27-0, one too large to overcome, before the Warriors’ would finally get on the scoreboard in the third quarter. 

Third down conversions were another sore spot for the Warriors all year, but they got one of their 4-of-14 on their first drive of the second half. 

Braedon Mercer broke up the shutout with Marion’s first and only points of the game on a third-and-14 from the Eagle 25 with a run with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter. 

Mercer scored again on the PAT to pull Marion to within 27-8. 

Ty Davidson capped the game with a 41-yard run on the Eagles’ next drive with 5:41 still left in the third quarter.

Davidson carried a game-high 22 times for 71 yards for 3.2 yards per carry average with the Eagles rolling up 240 yards on the ground and 314 totaled. 

Marion outdid Uniontown in first downs, 13-10, but couldn’t sustain drives. 

The Eagles fared worse on third down, converting just 2-for-8, but two less giveaways played a factor in the outcome. 

Joining Mallory in playing their final games in a Warrior uniform were Cooper Carpenter, Luke Lanning, Jaxton Tracy, Matt Christensen, Cade Alleven, and Hunter Helmer.