ROCHELLE —
The Marion County Eagles knew they were facing a very difficult opponent on Friday night when they traveled to Rochelle, Ga. to take on the Wilcox County High Patriots in the quarterfinal round of the GHSA Class A State Playoffs. A pivotal turnover late in the second quarter would prove to be just the momentum shift that the Patriots needed to stretch out their lead and claim the 39-21 victory to move to the semifinals next weekend.
Wilcox County received the opening kickoff and quickly marched down the field to put seven early points on the board. Less than two minutes into the game, Wilcox County quarterback Makail Grace connected on his first many touchdown passes of the night to make the score 7-0 in favor of the Patriots.
Following a Marion County three-and-out, the Patriots added on to their lead with a 10 play scoring drive to stretch their early lead to 14-0. Grace would find Jonathan Howard through the air for a 15 yard touchdown strike with 4:39 left in the first quarter to make the Patriot lead 13-0. Following the successful extra point the score would be 14-0 in favor of the Patriots, but the Eagles weren’t giving up without a fight.
Marion County’s Keon Dixon would take the Patriot kick to his team’s own 25 yard line, and the Eagles would begin what would be a 10 play, 75 yard touchdown drive to pull within seven. James Taylor would catch fire on the drive with several huge runs, and on a second down Taylor would fight his way all the way into the Wilcox County end zone on a 10 yard touchdown drive to bring his team within seven following the successful A.J. Wells extra point.
The Patriots would once again answer with 8:42 left in the second quarter when Grace rumbled into the end zone from 26 yards out to stretch the Wilcox lead back to 20-7. The Patriots would miss the extra point, keeping the score at 20-7 with nearly nine minutes left to play in the first half.
After a Dixon kick return to their own 42 yard line, Marion would again start a powerful running drive that would be extended by a pass interference against the Patriots on a fourth down pass. The penalty would give the Eagles a first down on the Wilcox County 11 yard line, but four huge defensive plays by the Patriots would deny Marion County any points and cause a huge turnover. Wilcox would take over with two and half minutes left in the second quarter, and with 25.9 seconds left in the half Grace would find his man in the end zone to cap off a 95 yard scoring drive and give the Patriots a 26-7 lead, which they carried into the halftime break.
The Eagles would get a touchdown run from Taylor with 3:52 remaining in their third quarter after a huge defensive stand to make the score 26-14, but Wilcox would start to pile on the score following the Eagles touchdown. On back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter, the Patriots would score on a pass from Grace to Telly Whitfield, and on a seven yard run from Maurice Edwards to extend their lead to an impressive 39-14 margin.
Marion would get one final score of the 2012 season when senior quarterback DeMarquez Mallard found Taylor on a 54 yard touchdown pass with 41 seconds remaining in the contest. Mallard’s touchdown capped off a seven for 12 night for the senior with 119 yards through the air. Taylor led the Eagles in rushing with 127 yards on 24 carries, and scored all three touchdowns in the Marion’s final game of the year.
On defense, Brandon Green led the Eagles with nine tackles, followed closely by standout senior defensive tackle DeQueszman Kelly with eight tackles.
The loss for Marion County will sting for a while, but the Eagles can look back on their historic 2012 season and be proud for many years to come. Marion County knocked off their biggest region foe, Dooly County, and also one of the most historically successful teams in the state in Charlton County.
Marion County also advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in school history, and tied for the lead in Region 4-A with a 5-1 region record. The Eagles had many huge accomplishments on the field this season, and with a solid group of young players returning in 2013 you can expect another great season to begin in less than nine months from coach Mike Swaney and his resilient Eagle squad.
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Related Photos
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Marion County senior quarterback DeMarquez Mallard (4) sends up a pass in the Eagles loss to Wilcox County on Friday night. Mallard and running back James Taylor (21) each had big games in the Eagles season-ending quarterfinal loss in Rochelle. Scott Phillips
Marion County football season comes to an end with 39-21 loss to Wilcox County
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