Rivalry week is upon Marion County for the second week in a row as the West Marion Trojans are set to host the East Marion Eagles (1-1) Friday night in Foxworth.
The Trojans (2-0) are coming off a 36-13 decisive win over Lumberton, while the Eagles (1-1) suffered a 60-14 defeat at the hands of rival Columbia on their home field.
The rivals have played each other extremely close the last two years with the Trojans winning 14-12 last season and the Eagles winning 18-14 in 2017. Last year’s game came down to the final play as East Marion had the ball inside West Marion’s 10-yard-line with seven seconds to play, but Eagles quarterback Devin Daniels had his pass to the end zone batted down at the line of scrimmage to end the game.
West Marion head coach Brad Duncan said the Trojans are expecting a game similar to the past two regardless of how the two teams have looked so far this year.
“With East and West you can throw everything out the window. There’s no question it’s going to be a daggum slugfest,” he said. “They’re big, they’re physical and they’re going to come right at you. They have big linemen and skill backs that are going to run straight at you and can run over us. D-Man (Daniels) at quarterback is a really good ball player. He’s a tough kid and a winner. We have to come ready to play.”
Eagles head coach Kevin Jackson said after the loss to Columbia that East Marion needs to focus on itself rather than who it lines up against.
“We just have to get better ourselves,” he said. “We missed a lot of tackles. We missed a lot of blocks. We didn’t turn the ball over, which is a good thing, but we just need to block and tackle better.”
Both teams have changed course this season with their offensive philosophies, with East Marion switching from the spread to the I-form and West Marion being the most run heavy it’s been in Duncan’s tenure.
The Trojans, led by Jartavious Martin and Octavious Harvey, have run for 454 yards and eight touchdowns through two weeks while passing for just 260 yards and two scores.
Jackson said the Eagles still need to be prepared for West Marion’s passing attack, though, after playing extremely run-heavy teams in Amite County and Columbia the first two weeks of the season.
East Marion has become more run heavy as well, passing just 11 times for 94 yards and one score while rushing for 396 yards and five touchdowns.
Kickoff is at 7.
Pictured Above: East Marion quarterback Devin Daniels eludes the rush of Columbia's Jaheim Oatis. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
