The East Marion Eagles, ranked No. 5 in the state in Class 1A and coming off of an emotional war over rival West Marion, have their work cut out for them Friday as they host Hazlehurst, a team that outscored its opponents by 332 points last season.
Hazlehurst may have suffered a 40-6 beatdown in the opening week, but it came at the hands of 2022’s Class 4A South State Champions against Mendenhall. The Class 3A Indians went 12-2 last season with their only losses coming to eventual state champion Raleigh, whom East Marion faced in its jamboree.
The name of the game for the Eagles on defense will be stopping the run, as head coach Jerry Fletcher said Hazlehurst has a strong running game led by a physical, downhill converted running back under center.
“He looks like he’s about 6-(foot)-2 and 220 (pounds). They want to pound that football and let him break tackles. They try to the far side with speedy guys on the sweeps,” Fletcher said. “Right now it looks like they have their running back at quarterback, so what they’re really trying to do is keep the ball in their hands and pound the defense.”
Defensively, Fletcher noted that Hazlehurst has a physical nose guard that will require extra attention by the Eagle offensive line.
Not only was it an emotional battle after edging West Marion for the first time since 2017, but it was a physical one, too. The Eagles are a locker room full of players banged up, but Fletcher’s message to the team is to keep fighting just like they did in Foxworth.
“That game we played Friday night was very physical. We have a couple of kids that are banged up pretty good. A lot of kids are sore. We had a lot of kids, especially at the skill positions, who’d never played before the first game,” Fletcher said. “Playing this week against Hazlehurst will be the same type of game. It’s going to be very physical. I told them that this is what the schedule is all about. We’ll see where we’re at as a football team.”
Friday’s matchup between East Marion and Hazlehurst is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Les Peters Field.
