Marion’s Ben Meier eyes a temporary gap in the line that he used to score the Flyer’s first touchdown in the second quarter. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Marion Local overcame a halftime deficit and a determined Versailles effort on both sides of the ball…Flyers scored the winning touchdown in the final two minutes to save the unbeaten streak…another nail-biter Marion win over Versailles.
Maria Stein, OH – Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin shook his head Friday night and spoke of the irony of three close-call wins over Versailles during the span of the Flyers now 70-game consecutive win streak, following Friday’s 20-19 thriller at Booster Field, in Maria Stein.
Minster Bank proudly sponsors the best area sports coverage on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Missed kicks – field goals and extra points were involved with each of them.
And Friday, another missed extra point by Versailles in the first half, and an intercepted two-point conversion attempt in the second half turned out to be the difference in the latest kicking/point-after mishap to haunt the 4-2 Tigers.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
“We’ve had a few close calls with Versailles, that’s all I can say,” added Goodwin, shaking his head.
It might have been all he could say with his heart stuck in his throat…over another Marion comeback Friday from a first half deficit, the Flyers trailing Versailles 13-0 until the 5:00 mark of the second quarter. It was a game in which one Marion player admitted afterwards…”They (Versailles) out-battled us, they were tougher and stronger tonight. We just happened to win.”
Versailles controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, denying Marion’s running game of its usual crispness, while the Tigers pounded the ball between the tackles with junior running back Landon Knapke (22 carriers for 88 yards) to extend drives and eat clock.
Versailles’ Kade Schwartz scores a first half touchdown from quarterback Ethan Wilker to give the Tigers a 13-0 lead over Marion Local.
Add, too, a career night by senior quarterback Ethan Wilker who completed 13 of 23 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown, surprising the Marion defense for his willingness to throw, and his efficiency. Throwing from the shotgun, he dinked and dunked a lot, but found open receivers in space that collected valuable yards after the catch, much to Marion’s frustration.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said a disappointed Versailles coach Ryan Jones, afterwards. “I’m proud of their effort and I feel devastated for them because this was a tough one.
“I’ve got to do a better job to help make sure we win these games. But I was proud of their attitude and their effort tonight.”
Goodwin could be proud, as well…for the effort and the means by which his own team – his sophomore quarterback, Brennan Hess – managed the stress of playing with the unbeaten streak on the line, and for managing the Flyers still-clean path towards another outright MAC title.
Since 2013, Moeller Trucking has sponsored MAC sports, and the Flyers, on Press Pros Magazine.com.
“The kids never quit, and they never will,” said Goodwin. “And that’s just how we do things. And things didn’t look good, that’s for sure. We get beat up on a nine-minute drive to start the third quarter when we’re down by a score. They’re beatin’ us up on the line of scrimmage and you’re limited as a coach over what you can do when you get beat physically. Coaches can’t help when that happens. A gap is a gap, and you’re either going to own that gap or you’re not. And we got moved out of gaps a bunch.
Tiger tough…Versailles’ Landon Knapke loses his head from this hit by Marion Local’s Seth Heitkamp.
“And give their quarterback a ton of credit for the game he had. He played better than what I thought he could…and that’s no dig on him. He was just freakin’ on tonight. Sometimes that happens and you just have to figure something out. And now this makes three games during this [unbeaten] stretch where we’ve been very fortunate to beat Versailles.”
Hess finished the game with 14 completions in 23 attempts for 170 yards and a touchdown. And despite some learning moments, in Goodwin’s words…he never quit. He kept playing.
“He got some happy feet at times, and didn’t step up [in the pocket] when he should have,” said Goodwin. “But we put a ton on him tonight. It seemed like we threw it 35 times and that’s a lot for Marion Local, but he made some plays, for sure. He missed some things, for sure. But he’s a sophomore and we don’t like to put a game on a sophomore quarterback…that’s not us. But we had to tonight. And he did enough…for sure.”
EB Real Estate, Darke County’s sales leader, proudly sponsors the best area sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Marion took the opening kick, and moved the ball enough to gain a pair of first downs before bogging down and punting to Versailles. Ethan Wilker and Landon Knapke took the ball and moved it steadily down field, 58 yards in twelve plays to score on a Knapke run from a yard out to go up 7-0 at 1:49 remaining in the first quarter.
But Marion could not move the ball on the ensuing possession as Versailles’ interior line and linebackers stacked the box and made things miserable for Flyer running backs Ben Meier and Kam Eifert. After another punt, Wilker again moved the Tigers downfield and scored on a 9-yard touchdown toss to Kade Schwartz at 9:54 to go up 13-0. The point-after, however went wide right, and that point would again come back to haunt.
Down a pair of scores, Marion’s Cale Nagel took the kickoff and returned it to midfield,where Hess finally got some traction with the running game, helped by a key third down completion to Brayden Mescher that put them inside the Versailles twenty. On third and goal from the five Ben Meier finally cracked the end zone to cut the deficit to 13-7 before halftime.
Marion is legendary for its halftime adjustments, but in Goodwin’s words…when you’re getting beat at the point of attack there’s not much adjusting you can do. And Versailles again took advantage out of the halftime locker room by consuming the first nine minutes of the third quarter with a field-long drive – 14 plays – to score on a Wilker three-yard run with 2:31 left to go up 19-7. Chasing the missed point after from their second score, Versailles went for the two-point conversion, only to have it intercepted – a second lost point after a Tigers score.
Marion’s defense stiffend in the fourth quarter, putting the squeeze on Versailles quarterback Ethan Wilker.
But 2:31 gave Hess and Marion enough time to go the length of the field and score their second touchdown, again by Ben Meier on a one-yard run with eleven seconds left, now trailing 19-14 after a made point after touchdown.
On the ensuing possession at the start of the fourth quarter Marion’s defense finally held Wilker and Knapke from extending a drive, forcing a punt. But the punt was botched, Marion took over on the Versailles 37 yard line, and finally had some momentum to facilitate a go-ahead score. But Versailles’ defense forced a turnover on downs, and for a moment, escaped disaster. But only for a moment.
Marion’s defense again stiffened, closed in on Wilker and Knapke, and forced a second punt in a span of six minutes. Marion took over on its own 35 yard line and started moving upfield with 5:50 remaining. Aided by a holding call in the secondary on Wilker, they moved inside the Versailles forty yard line. But now the Versailles defense again rose to the occasion, forcing a fourth down and long for Marion to negotiate in order to continue their drive.
Knapke Kitchens and Baths proudly sponsors MAC football on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Hess threw the ball in the direction of Cale Nagel at the twenty yard line, heavily covered by a Versailles defensive back. Nagel went airborne, got a hand on the ball, but when he came down there was no clear call of a catch, or incomplete. One official asked for help, another came from the sideline, unsure himself, and after conferring it was ruled that Nagel had made the catch…first down, Marion Local.
Where’s the ball? Ruled a catch, this fourth down play by Marion’s Cale Nagel extended a fourth quarter drive, led to Marion’s winning score.
Moments later, with 2:38 on the clock, Hess found Brayden Mescher with tight coverage in the corner of the end zone by Versailles’s Reed Raterman. Mescher got to the ball first, secured it, and scored the go-ahead touchdown…20-19. Marion, too, chose to attempt the two-point conversion, but it was denied by Versailles.
“He (Hess) put it right on the money,” said Mescher of the winning catch. “Then he thanked me. And I thanked him He gave us a chance to win. He’s a dog. None of us are nervous when he’s got the ball.”
With barely two minutes left, Versailles and Wilker took possession on the twenty yard line, but found yards tougher to gain as time began to melt. A pass interference penalty moved the ball out to the forty yard line, but an ensuing interception by Marion’s Derek Knapke sealed the Tigers’ bid to score.
Leugers Insurance proudly sponsors MAC sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Versailles would end with 281 hard-earned yards – 112 on the ground and 160 passing.
Marion finished with 309 total yards – 139 rushing and 170 passing.
Marion’s Derek Knapke pressures Ethan Wilker on the Tigers’ final drive.
Outside the locker room, it was Hess’s turn to shake his head over the turn events that determined the game.
“If I’m being honest I don’t think I managed things that well,” he said. “I tried to do too much myself and I need to trust the other players to make plays, like Brayden did on that catch in the end zone. With the help of God we did it. I mean…holy moly. We never gave up. We work all summer to be in condition for games like this. We believed at halftime that we would win this game, and it came in a weird way. But we got it done.”
Lost in the excitement of the finish – whether the fourth down catch was a catch, or not – Mescher’s game-winning grab – and one last Versailles attempt to answer – was the fact of the missed extra point from the first half, and the failed two-point conversion in the second half, chasing that missed kick. Consider the possibilities, including overtime, and believe…it takes some luck to win seventy straight.
“It came in a weird way,” said Brennan Hess. “But we got it done.”
Weird? Tim Goodwin won’t…can’t… argue.
Pla-Mor lanes proudly sponsors the Midwest Athletic Conference on Press Pros Magazine.com.