Traditionally, November brings two things with it: Thanksgiving and Marist in the playoffs. This year is no different.
The War Eagles (10-1), ranked No. 4 in Class AAAAA, have advanced to the state playoffs every year since 1982. Friday night at Hughes-Spaulding Stadium, Marist, the No. 2 seed in from Region 6, began their yearly playoff march with a 30-13 win over No. 10 Whitewater (7-4), the No. 3 seed from Region 5.
During Marist’s 32-year post season run, the War Eagle’s have bowed out in the first round just four times, the last time coming in 2011. But there was no chance of that Friday night, as Marist dominated from start to finish.
An 8-yard run by senior Griffin King and a 29-yard field goal by senior Kevin Gogol gave the War Eagles a 10-0 lead after one quarter. In the second, Marist added field goals of 43 and 31yards by Gogol, and a 22-yard touchdown pass from senior Sam Phelts to King to push the lead to 23-0.
On Whitewater’s next possession, the Wildcats did opponents need to do against Marist in order to combat their grind-it-out, ball control style: they scored quickly. After fumbling the kickoff out of bounds at their own 14-yard line with just over three minutes left in the quarter, Whitewater senior Christian Wafford took an inside zone running play 86 yards for a touchdown when he darted up the middle, broke to the far sideline and then outran two War Eagle defensive backs to the end zone, to narrow the gap to 23-7 at halftime.
But Marist stamped out any momentum Whitewater had gained with the score on the first possession of the third quarter. After returning the kickoff to midfield, the War Eagles took just three plays to score. Senior fullback Ian Gipson took an inside dive, bounced to his right and sprinted into the end zone to give Marist its three-touchdown lead again, 30-7.
Still, it wasn’t a perfect night for the War Eagles. After forcing a three-and-out by the Wildcat offense on their first possession of the second half, Marist began another scoring march, ignited by a 40-yard run by Gipson into Whitewater territory. But the drive stalled after a fumble on an inside trap handoff prevented the War Eagles from picking up a first down. Gogol then missed a 35-yard field goal and Marist turned the ball over on downs.
But it wasn’t Whitewater’s night. Case in point, on the ensuing drive, Wildcat senior quarterback Jay Ashley lofted a pass down the near sideline for fellow senior receiver Jonathan O’Brien, who made an acrobatic diving catch at the Marist 30-yard line. But when O’Brien’s body hit the ground, the force jarred the ball loose, right into the hands of Marist safety Jack Owen, who returned it to midfield.
Ashley added a cosmetic 1-yard quarterback sneak for the game’s final points with :04 seconds left.
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