“Cam Griesdorn has got really good vision. His best physical attribute is his eyes.” – Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Logan Howard)
Marion Local proved again to be the model of consistency with a 27-6 win over MAC rival Minster, advancing to the regional final. Camden Griesdorn ran for 164 yards and all four Flyer touchdowns.
Maria Stein, OH – What can you count on when everything turns to chaos?
When an unpredictable Friday the 13th brings grounded planes, software outages, a shipwreck, and five first-half turnovers between Marion Local and Minster, what is unwaveringly trustworthy, predictable and true?
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Marion Local wins. Count on it. Depend on it. Take it to the bank.
When the going gets tough, or just flat-out weird, you can bet on the Marion Local Flyers to win a football game. You’d be right on 88 of the last 89.
Alan Brads writes OHSAA sports and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
The latest inevitable Flyer victory was a 27-9 win over MAC rival Minster in a Region 28 semifinal. It was the final game in Booster Stadium for the seniors, who never lost there.
When Marion Local fumbled on the opening kickoff and Minster recovered, it became clear that even the most decorated team in the state isn’t immune to a bizarre Friday the 13th. It wouldn’t be a run-of-the-mill, running-clock Marion Local showcase. But the defense held Minster to a field goal, and the Flyers scored the next 27 points. It happened slower than usual, but as sure as ever.
The win sets the Flyers up to redeem last year’s regional final loss to St. Henry, a game which most understood was really the state championship come two weeks early. This time they’ll face a different MAC foe, New Bremen. The Flyers worked New Bremen 42-7, running clock and all in week eight.
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“MAC teams are always fun, because it’s a lot of hittin’,” Marion linebacker Kale Ahrens said.
If they take care of business, the Flyers will be a win away from their second home – Canton, OH.
In any and all of those games, expect Tim Goodwin’s crew to do what they did to Minster – and to everyone who came before Minster. They’ll tackle violently on defense, and hand the ball to Camden Griesdorn until the stadium lights turn off.
Marion’s Brennen Hess forces a fumble, and the Flyers come away with it to set up a score.
“We just kept pounding,” Goodwin said. “It’s like a sledgehammer against a rock. You just gotta keep pounding it, and eventually it’ll crack.”
Griesdorn carried 31 times against Minster for 164 yards and all four Flyer scores. If you want dependable, he’s your guy.
“When you play MAC teams, the holes close so much quicker than they do against other teams,” Griesdorn said. “They’re coming to hit you, then they’re gonna land on top of you and try to get the ball out.”
On the other side, Marion harassed Wildcat QB Carson Kaylor often enough to kill drives, even though they usually outlived the average lifespan of a possession against the Flyers.
Before a late scoring drive against second-stringers, Kaylor completed just 12 of 24 passes for 96 yards and an interception.
“With a quarterback like that who can run it and throw it, you have to respect him in both ways,” Ahrens said. “If it’s gonna be a big play, he’s gonna have the ball in his hands. So we knew that going into the game and played off that.”
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The Flyers dialed up consistent pressure, allowing players like Ahrens and Jacob Muhlenkamp to blow Kaylor up before he got the chance to escape the pocket and make a play. He found space on a few scrambles, but a collection of crushing sacks dropped his rush total to seven yards on 12 attempts.
Iron Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. But after Marion got punched by a turnover and Minster field goal, Goodwin didn’t need to change the plan.
They ran the football, then ran it some more. The Flyers drove the field twice, but turned the ball over on down inside the 25-yard line both times. But the body blows stacked up.
Cam Griesdorn tries to escape the fierce Wildcat front on his way to 164 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
“It was just a hard-hitting MAC game,” Goodwin said. “There’s really no secrets between the teams. We’ve played each other a bunch … The way the league does the video pool, we have every game Minster plays, and they have every game Marion plays. You aren’t gonna surprise anyone.”
After a Marion takeaway to set up a short field of their own, Griesdorn scored from a yard out for a 6-3 lead.
Both offenses messed around for the rest of the half, at one point turning the ball over three times within five plays. Minster recovered a fumble and took the opportunity to run a trick play, which turned from a disappointing sack into a catastrophic interception. But Marion Local QB Brennen Hess quickly returned the favor by throwing to Minster DB Taylor Fancher.
Both offenses regrouped and reheated in the locker room, knowing they needed to score without being handed a short field.
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Marion Local’s strategy to keep stacking body blows paid off. On its first possession, Griesdorn cut back twice to rip off a 32-yarder, then a two-yard score for a 13-3 lead.
“He’s got really good vision,” Goodwin said. “His best physical attribute is his eyes.”
Ahrens pressured Kaylor on a blitz, forcing a back-footed fadeaway throw which Cam Wolters picked off, giving Griesdorn & Co. another short field inside the 25-yard line.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Griesdorn took a toss left and turned the corner for a 21-3 lead.
Minster led a promising drive, but Muhlenkamp came up with a sack, a tackle and a tipped pass on consecutive plays to kill it, and Minster’s hopes along with it.
Griesdorn threw the knockout punch with an 18-yarder for his fourth and final score.
Kaylor finished his junior campaign with a 32-yard touchdown pass to senior Tyler Bergman for a final score of 27-9.
Minster finished its season at 8-4, with the misfortune of having played Marion Local twice for the third time in four years.
“Man I’m proud of our kids,” Minster coach Seth Whiting said. “They played unbelievably hard … couldn’t ask anything more out of them …We put ourselves in situations to be in this thing and win it, and we just came up short.”
That response from an uber-competitive coach after a 27-9 loss says everything there is to say about Marion Local. The rules are different when you’re playing against the standard.
“That’s the hard part of playing teams like Marion,” Whiting said. “When they make mistakes, you gotta capitalize. We had our chances.”
To Minster’s credit, they were only outgained by 106 yards, didn’t commit penalties, didn’t quit, and clearly entered the game with a belief they could win.
“They’re a quick and aggressive team,” Goodwin said. “We respect the crap out of how they play the game.”
They just turned the ball over a few times against a better team. And the most consistent, dependable, reliable football team in the state will make you pay for that every time.
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