The East Marion Eagles (3-6, 3-1) fell short in their quest Friday night to sew up the Region 8-2A title with an 18-6 road loss to Collins, but they have a lot of positive momentum to build on.
Although the Eagles lost, they actually controlled the game for the first 42 minutes, and it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Collins finally got things going offensively. East Marion head coach Brad Hughes said there was a lot to learn from the contest because it was really the first game the Eagles have played all year that was close for all four quarters.
“It was just a good, quality game. Obviously we wanted to win, but we’re going to take the lesson from it,” he said. “We just have to learn how to finish.”
The East Marion defense was lights out throughout, allowing just one scoring drive, and Hughes said he’s really proud of the way it played. The offense is what is holding the Eagles back.
“We’re still struggling a little bit (offensively). It’s just that young offensive line,” he said.
East Marion rushed for just 28 yards on 19 carries (1.47 yards per carry). Hughes said Jadarrius Mallard and Kevin Johnson, both of which are seeing their first extended looks in the backfield this year, need to learn how to accept when a play isn’t there, lower their shoulder and pick up just a yard or two rather than trying to bounce it outside and losing several yards.
“We’re just going to keep working it and get them to where when they see that hole to hit it up in there,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to pick up a positive yard or two and play the next down.”
East Marion forced a quick three-and-out on the game’s opening possession but couldn’t muster a first down out of its own first drive. However, the Eagles backed Collins up into a fourth-and-24 and the subsequent punt set the Eagles up at the Collins 43 for a scoring drive.
Despite losing eight yards on four rushes on the drive, East Marion got on the board first thanks to the right arm of Demetrius Allen and the hands of Amere Woodham. After picking up a key first down with a 20-yard connection between the two, Allen rolled to his right and tossed up a deep ball on third-and-15 into double coverage. But Woodham leaped over the cornerback to haul in the pass, broke a tackle and found pay dirt to put East Marion up 6-0 midway through the opening quarter.
Collins drove down to the East Marion 21 on the ensuing drive on the heels of a 37-yard catch-and-run, but the Eagles recovered a fumble to get the ball back. But back-to-back false starts backed them up deep in their own end, and when the Eagles had to punt, Ja’Quarious Jones’ punt was blocked and recovered by the Eagles in their own end zone for a safety to make it 6-2.
Although Collins started its next possession in East Marion territory, Deundre Ruffin picked off a fourth-down pass, which ultimately led to another East Marion punt. Collins had one last crack at it to score before the end of the half, but a sack by Jaidon Johnson halted the drive.
East Marion was forced to punt to open the second half, but the Tigers tried to pick up the rolling punt and fumbled it, allowing East Marion to get the ball back at the Collins 43. A 19-yard slant to Carlos Stubbs got the Eagles to the Collins 23, but a false start and back-to-back sacks forced the Eagles to punt on fourth-and-32.
Later in the third quarter, an East Marion punt traveled just seven yards to give Collins great field position at the Eagles 33. It didn’t matter, though, as a big hit by Allen caused a fumble recovered by Jones. East Marion couldn’t capitalize on the turnover and had to punt again as the game entered the fourth quarter.
Then Collins’ offense finally got out of neutral and drove 69 yards in 10 plays to get into the end zone on a 3-yard run by Ken’Dariun Magee. The Tigers converted the two-point attempt to go up 10-6 with 5:29 remaining in the game. The drive was aided by a questionable defensive pass interference call on third-and-17 that allowed the Tigers to pick up a fourth-and-2 on the next play. They threw a deep ball that was clearly out of reach of the receiver, and while Ka’Ron Weary did reach out for the receiver’s jersey, he didn’t grab it or slow him down.
“That pass interference call was kind of bogus,” Hughes said.
A 42-yard pass from Leon Andrews to Woodham on fourth-and-10 kept the game alive for East Marion and had the Eagles knocking on the door at the Collins 26. But two plays later, Andrews tried to hit Stubbs on a post route, but Collins’ middle linebacker dropped into the throwing lane and made a leaping interception. Even without the linebacker, it would have been a dangerous throw with Stubbs double covered.
East Marion then got the stop it needed to get the ball back, but with their last chance to win the game disaster struck for the Eagles. They switched back to Allen under center from Andrews, but Allen got sacked on consecutive plays, fumbling on the second one. Collins scooped up the loose ball and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown that increased the deficit to 18-6.
Hughes said the reason Allen drew the start was because Andrews got banged up last week and wasn’t able to practice a whole lot.
“I thought (Allen) played well and did a good job for us,” he said. “Coming in there in the second half, we made the move there to go back to LJ (Andrews) to see if we could get a little more production in the air because we couldn’t move the ball on the ground. They were smothering us.”
The only area where Allen struggled was taking sacks that put the Eagles in long down-and-distances. He was 4-of-7 for 76 yards and a touchdown through the air, but he was sacked four times for a loss of 27 yards. Hughes said he likes the way Allen manages the game and remains poised, but the Eagles can’t afford to take those sacks. Andrews was 4-of-10 for 60 yards and an interception but wasn’t sacked.
The Eagles will go on the road Friday night to take on Franklin County (3-4) in a non-district showdown. Hughes said Franklin County is big but a lot like East Marion with a lot of freshmen and sophomores. He said the Bulldogs like to run the football with powers and counters, plays the Eagles have seen all year.
“Hopefully we can stop them. Their quarterback can run well; he’s fast. They don’t throw it real well so I think if we can stop their run and move the football on them, we can compete,” he said.
