Warriors can't stop Dragons in home opener
Sports reporter
Coming into the season every Marion High School Warrior football fan knew inexperience would be tough to overcome on the football field. Friday night the experience-laden Halstead Dragons got the revenge they sought after the Warriors won by 20 points on their home turf a year ago. Justin Calvin and Luke Thibault scored two touchdowns each en route to a 34-6 road victory for the Dragons.
"It was an experienced team against an inexperienced team, said Coach Grant Thierolf. "We never really established a tempo."
The Warriors hung tough early, trailing by just one after the first quarter. Running back Kyle Hett provided the only score for MHS with a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown. Just 14 seconds after Thibault scored from one yard out, Hett's elusive return cut the lead to 7-6. The extra point was no good, but the Warriors grabbed the momentum back with four minutes, 32 seconds to play in the first quarter.
After forcing a Halstead punt, Marion took over near its own 35-yard line. Quarterback Jason Hett completed the team's only pass of the day — 12 yards to junior Calvin Jeffrey for a first down. The drive eventually stalled, and punter Austin Hager sent the ball into Dragon territory.
After taking over, Halstead continued to pound the ball with Thibault and Calvin taking turns wearing down the younger and smaller Warriors' defensive line. Most of the damage was done by Calvin, who amassed 96 yards on 15 carries, including a seven-yard touchdown that made the score 14-6 after the extra point with 7:39 to play in the half.
The Warriors took over after the touchdown, and went three-and-out giving the ball back to Halstead. The already weary defense did a good job on the next possession, enabling MHS to get the ball back. Taking over with about four minutes to play inside their own 35, the Warriors did the one thing they shouldn't — turn the ball over.
A fumble with just less than four minutes to play gave the Dragons the ball near mid-field. Quarterback Austin Ratzlaff, who scored a touchdown and ran for a team-high 97 yards, still did enough damage picking up 15 yards on a scramble that nearly resulted in a touchdown.
Just before leapfrogging a Warrior defender that left him untouched for a 50-yard touchdown run, the senior stepped out of bounds at the Warrior 35-yard line. It still gave Halstead a first down, and wore down the Warrior defense once again.
Later in the drive Ratzlaff handed off to Thibault at the eight-yard line, and he ran through defenders on his way to his second touchdown of the game with 48 seconds until halftime. Devin Zimmerman made good on his third extra point attempt, and Halstead headed into the break with a 21-6 lead.
To make matters worse, MHS found out Jason Hett had suffered a broken finger in the second quarter and would miss the rest of the game.
Sophomore Mitchell Leppke filled in for Hett, but the already young team fell into a deeper hole just four minutes into the second half.
Ratzlaff, this time at running back, scampered in untouched for a 13-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach, 27-6, with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
As a running back, Hager did the best on the ground, rushing for 41 yards on 10 carries. He also added a few bone-jarring hits on defense, but none of it was enough to claim a Warrior victory.
Calvin added one more touchdown with 10 seconds left, increasing the lead to 34-7.
Kyle Hett was another bright spot for MHS, recording 135 yards on three kick returns.
"A lot of our players will get better as the season goes on," Thierolf said. "We have to make sure one bad game doesn't turn into four bad games."
In all, Halstead out-rushed Marion 316 to 55, and gained 336 total yards to Marion's 67.
"We have to figure out a way to play to our strength," Thierolf said. "And we have to get back to fundamentals."
The loss dropped MHS to 0-1 on the young season. The Warriors will play at 7 p.m. Friday at home against Ellinwood.
