Another week and another impressively dominant defensive performance for the West Marion Trojans. They remained perfect on the year with a 16-6 road victory over Jeff Davis County.
The Trojans (7-0, 1-0) and Jaguars (2-5, 0-1) only got through two-and-a-half quarters Friday night before inclement weather delayed and eventually postponed the remainder of the game to Saturday, but the one constant remained the Trojans’ historically stingy defense.
Going into the matchup the Trojans were allowing just 4.5 points per game and had yet to allow an opponent eclipse 200 yards offensively. West Marion was even better in that regard against the Jaguars, giving up just 78 yards while racking up 17 tackles for loss, six sacks and even a safety.
“The only play they scored on, we only had 10 guys on the field,” head coach Brad Duncan said. “We had a linebacker get banged up and took himself out, and we didn’t know so we were a player short. They had the big kick return that gave them great field position, and the very next play they score. Other than that the defense was lights out again. Blaten Norris was the best player on the field; there ain’t no doubt. He was really, really good.”
Norris seemed to have purchased real estate in Bassfield because he lived in the Jeff Davis backfield, knifing through blockers like they were made of butter and punishing whoever was the unlucky player with the ball. The senior nose guard finished the game with 10 tackles, a gaudy six tackles for loss, two sacks and a safety.
Norris and company are going to need to remain on their A-game with Magee (7-0, 1-0) coming to town Friday. Magee is coming off a 51-27 win over Seminary and averages 43.9 points per game. The other Trojans are led by junior quarterback Chandler Pittman, who has thrown for 1,522 yards and 18 touchdowns and rushed for 605 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Magee’s offense is different than any West Marion has seen this year as it operates out of a true spread with four receivers.
“They’re going to spread us out and play football how we had been playing the last several years or so. We have to match up with them; they have some really tough matchup problems,” Duncan said. “The quarterback can really run, and he doesn’t throw bad at all. They have space guys there that can really make plays.”
Pittman’s leading target is 6-foot-2 junior Xavier Franks, who has 591 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Franks preys on smaller defensive backs and has an uncanny ability to highpoint the ball in jump-ball scenarios in the red zone. It will likely be up to senior cornerback Ott Mitchell, who is 6-foot with long arms, to jam Franks at the line of scrimmage and not allow him any space to hurt West Marion over the top.
“They’re going to be different than anything we’ve seen, and I think we’re going to be different from anything they’ve seen,” Duncan said. “Two Trojans are going to be going at each other, and we’ll find out what he have to do.”
Duncan said Trojans senior quarterback Jeremiah Holmes is a special player who makes big plays in big moments, and part of the game plan against Magee will include Holmes running more on quarterback powers.
Friday at Jeff Davis, West Marion went three-and-out on its opening drive but forced a fumble that was recovered by Octavious Harvey at the JDC 12 on the Jaguars’ first offensive play. Three plays later Jartavious Martin found a small hole and squeezed through it for a 1-yard touchdown, and Brian Blakeney drilled the extra point to make it 7-0 four minutes into the game.
West Marion had three straight tackles for loss on the Jaguars’ ensuing possession and drove them back again the next time Jeff Davis got the ball following a Trojans’ turnover on downs. Larry Magee jumpstarted West Marion’s next scoring drive to open the second quarter with a long punt return to the Jeff Davis 32.
The Trojans were forced into a 4th-and-5 at the Jeff Davis 17 after one first down, but Mitchell singlehandedly willed West Marion into the end zone. He caught a screen pass and ran through a linebacker that he dragged for several yards before extending into the end zone to put the Trojans up 14-0.
The play design had a big hand in Mitchell’s touchdown as well as his extraordinary effort. West Marion lined up in trips to the wide side of the field with the running back on that side as well. The running back released to the outside to block for a slip screen to the outside receiver, but Holmes faked the screen, spun around and threw a tunnel screen to Mitchell on the backside. Left tackle Ka’Marius Husband released and laid a huge pancake block on the cornerback covering Mitchell. Between the fake screen to the other side of the field and Husband’s block, Mitchell had just one man to beat to get into the end zone.
“(Husband) knocked the guy out. He had him a good one,” Duncan said. “If Josh (Ham) stays engaged on the guy Ott doesn’t have any problems, but Ott really wanted to score. You could see that in the way he finished to find a way to get into the end zone.”
The Jaguars nearly returned the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown, but Magee showed off some track speed and caught the Jeff Davis returner at West Marion 25. However, Jaguars running back Markis Middleton found a big hole in the middle of the Trojans defense and went into the end zone untouched. The Jaguars failed to get the 2-point conversion but trimmed the deficit to 14-6 with 8:36 remaining in the first half.
West Marion almost got into the end zone again just before the half but came up short. Mitchell made a great catch on a fade for 29 yards to get the Trojans into the red zone, but the offense sputtered. On 4th-and-goal from the JDC 9, Holmes lofted a jump ball to O’Marion Husband, who had possession for a moment before it was knocked away. The clock expired for halftime during the play.
Norris knifed through the Jaguars’ offensive line on Jeff Davis’ first possession of the second half and came up with a sack in the end zone for a safety that made it 16-6 midway through the third quarter. That was the last play before the delay and play resumed the following night.
Neither team could gain much traction offensively Saturday until the Jaguars’ final drive. They had marched into West Marion territory, but Octavious Harvey had a huge sack that killed the drive and allowed the Trojans to run out the clock.
“A ‘W’ in our division, especially at Jeff Davis, is always big,” Duncan said.
Pictured Above: West Marion's Blaten Norris celebrates a tackle for loss Friday night against Jeff Davis. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
