Although there wasn’t any official score being kept, the West Marion Trojans dominated Lumberton on the road Friday night in a scrimmage to prepare for Friday night’s road opener at rival East Marion.
Both West Marion and Lumberton each got three eight-play series offensively that reset to first down if a first down wasn’t gained in the first four plays. Then they alternated in a goal-line sequence with each team getting two drives to score from the opponent’s 10.
Trojans head coach Brad Duncan said he saw more good than bad and liked that the Trojans got out of it relatively injury free.
“Defensively I thought we flew around to the football pretty good,” he said. “Offensively I was hoping we could run the ball a little bit better. We had some big plays passing, but we have to be more consistent in that part of it.”
West Marion’s offense started slow, turning it over on downs while losing three yards on its opening drive. The Trojans lost seven more yards on the first two plays of its second drive before Jayden Duncan connected with Qavonte Swanigan for a 62-yard gain with Duncan’s pass perfectly placed and hitting Swanigan in stride. With the eight-play setup, the drive ended inside Lumberton’s 20.
Coming off an historic season last year, West Marion’s defense didn’t miss a beat when the Panthers got the ball. The Trojans defense looked fast and aggressive and forced Lumberton into a fourth-and-19, which resulted in a turnover on downs with an incomplete pass. On the second drive, defensive ends Ka’Marius Husband and Ra’Quan Johnson teamed up for a big sack to force another turnover on downs.
West Marion’s third drive offensively was ruined with a shotgun snap that sailed well over Duncan’s head. But the Trojans moved under center for their fourth drive and finally got the rushing attack rolling. Jartavious Martin broke a few tackles on his way to a 15-yard scamper then Swanigan made a man miss at the line and got to the edge for a 26-yard carry. Despite breaking in several new linemen up front, the Trojans blocked exceptionally well, particularly when they were under center.
The Trojans secondary highlighted Lumberton’s next possession, giving the Panthers nowhere to throw and coming up strong in the run game. The Panthers picked up just one first down in their eight-play sequence on a quarterback scramble.
Facing a third-and-long on West Marion’s ensuing possession, Duncan hit O’Marion Husband in stride on a post the picked up nearly 30 yards. Then Martin nearly took a running back screen to the house but had the ball punched out from behind on the Trojans’ eighth and final play of the possession. Duncan looked a little rushed in the pocket at times but made some big throws, particularly when he made sure to set his feet.
The pass rush led by Ka’Marius Husband dominated Lumberton’s next possession. He came screaming off the edge on back-to-back plays for a pair of sacks that netted a loss of about 25 yards. The college coaches that were in attendance really fell in love with Ka’Marius Husband, Duncan said.
“He’s got a great motor. He’s very physical. He’s starting to get bigger and stronger. He has a chance to have a really, really good senior year,” he said.
Across 24 plays with drives starting at its own 30, Lumberton had negative-17 yards.
In the goal-line portion, Octavious Harvey found the end zone on a 3-yard carry up the gut. The Panthers matched it, though, scoring on third down on a quarterback draw.
Overall, the Trojans looked like a carbon copy of last season. While they weren’t quite as crisp offensively, Martin, Harvey, Swanigan, Larry Magee and O’Marion Husband each made plays and looked primed to lead another explosive offense.
Duncan said the line at times was very good and below average at other times, but he believes it will be a strong suit for the Trojans this year. He said a lot of the bad plays can be attributed to conditioning, which he believes is the one area West Marion is behind on as a team.
Defensively, the only concern West Marion had was who was going to replace the production of Blaten Norris and Jordyn Mahaffey on the line. But Ka’Marius Husband played like a one-man wrecking crew and Johnson flashed as a playmaker off the edge as well. The secondary, led by Tyler Aikens, Martin, Swanigan and Magee, played near flawlessly.
