Chris Whitaker
The Americus Times-Recorder
CUSSETA —
It took one drive for Marion County’s defense to turn it up another notch Friday night.
After Chattahoochee County scored on the opening possession of the game, the Eagles pitched a shutout as they won 27-8.
Marion was led by its tandem in the backfield in Ykeem Wells and Zamir Shelton. Wells rushed for 172 yards on 22 carries, setting up Shelton for his four touchdowns. Shelton had 72 yards and scored touchdowns of 3, 1, 2 and 1 yard as the Eagles racked up 327 yards on the ground.
The Eagle defense held the Panthers to 100 yards of total offense. Quarterback David Cochran was 5 of 9 for 42 yards and an interception as the Eagles forced two turnovers; they committed four.
Isaac Dixon led the defense, making eight tackles to go with a sack, interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery. Delvin Hill added five tackles.
“My first win feels good,” said Marion coach Mike Swaney to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. “We talked about our turnovers. We have to clean that up. But that will happen with this new spread offense. We just have to learn and get better, and, luckily, our defense is good enough to win despite the turnovers.
“We just stayed with the game plan. We wanted to keep grinding it and keep playing. Our guys did a good job keeping their composure. Our defense kept them contained.”
