Coming off a brutal 42-0 loss to Columbia for the Marion County Football Championship, West Marion will look to get back on track during its homecoming game Friday night when Forrest County AHS visits The Swamp.
Last year at this time, the Trojans (1-3) were also 1-3 and went on the road to beat the Aggies 35-26, which sparked West Marion to win five of their final six regular season games to finish second in Region 8-3A. Thornhill said he sees no reason why that can’t be the case again in 2022.
If it wasn’t for Avery Sledge, who now plays at Mississippi State, West Marion would have blown out the Aggies last season. Forrest County AHS is much improved this year, though, with a 3-1 record after a 0-10 season in 2021 and has a new coach in Larry Dolan, who is a familiar face for both the Aggies and Marion County alike.
Dolan previously coached at Forrest County AHS from 2000-2013, capping off his impressive tenure with a 4A state title in his final season, before coaching Columbia Academy for two seasons. Most recently, Dolan led Class 6A D’Iberville to a 29-6 record in three seasons before returning to where it all began. He has leaned heavily on running back Keeghan Rodgers to turn the program around, and Rodgers has delivered with 757 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns already.
“The running back is kind of carrying the load for them, but they have some other playmakers. They have a new coach, and he’s doing a good job with them. They’re playing really hard,” Thornhill said. “They run a single-wing offense, which is kind of like the Wing-T, and their running back has had two games over 200 yards.”
After beating Seminary, Pass Christian and South Jones to begin the year, the Aggies came back to earth last week with a 56-6 loss to Stone in a game in which they struggled mightily with turnovers.
Thornhill said the Trojans will be switching things up offensively this week after failing to gain 100 yards against Columbia. Health has been an issue in recent weeks with quarterback Jude Stringer and a few others on the shelf for West Marion.
Thornhill expects a couple guys to return Friday for homecoming and at least one more the following week.
Kickoff at Trojans Field is at 7:30 p.m.
