The East Marion Eagles (7-2) got the opportunity to rest up during a bye in the final week of the regular season and will return to the field Friday night to host West Lincoln (5-6) in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs.
Eagles head coach Kevin Jackson said the bye came at a good time for East Marion, especially since it already knew it was the No. 1 seed from Region 8-2A. However, the Bears may be the No. 4 seed from Region 7, but Jackson said he knows better than to take them lightly.
“They got some pretty big boys that are going to be pretty physical. Big No. 75 (Jackson Taylor) and No. 52 (Grant Jackson) are pretty physical offensive lineman,” he said. “We’re going to need to win at the line of scrimmage and tackle the football. They have a couple good little running backs, No. 21 (Michael Brothern) and No. 5 (Enrico Price), that run the ball hard.”
Brothern leads the Bears with 1,457 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns and averages 10.1 yards per carry. Price isn’t far behind with 1,078 yards and 11 touchdowns on 8.9 yards per carry. Getting to run behind Taylor and Jackson is a plus for the West Lincoln backs as both are massive men amongst boys. Jackson is a 6-foot-7, 304-pound senior, while Taylor is a 6-foot-4, 315-pound sophomore.
The Bears are a run-first offense and struggle when pressed to throw with just two touchdowns against nine interceptions on the year. West Lincoln scores well, though, without needing to pass and averages 27.4 points per game.
It’s the other side of the ball where the Bears struggle as they have given up an average of 30.8 points per game. Jackson said while the Bears have had some crooked numbers hung on them, they play sound defensively.
“They’re not going to make a lot of mistakes, and they’re going to play hard,” he said. “They run around to the football pretty well.”
The matchup Friday night is East Marion’s first home playoff game since 2014 when the Eagles made it to south state before falling to Bassfield. Jackson said it’s super big to have the home field advantage.
“Any time you get an opportunity to play at home it’s a plus, but to be able to host a playoff game with it all on the line it’s definitely a big deal and a big plus,” he said.
With a win over West Lincoln, the Eagles would either play Bay Springs (9-2) or Scott Central (8-2) in the second round.
