Defense, last-minute drive propel Marionville to win over Ash Grove

4f1a0588-2

By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Marionville — After a 30-2 defeat at the hands of Strafford seven days earlier, Marionville faced many doubters heading into its week four showdown with Ash Grove.

Fortunately, the Comets weren’t listening.

Josh Goodman’s pick-six interception in the game’s final seconds sealed the 27-18 victory and capped a wild fourth-quarter rally. Within a 20-second time frame, two lead changes and a 55-yard Marionville drive occurred, the latter giving the Comets the lead for good.

Marionville quarterback Ryan Mayberry and running back Alexis Gracia accounted for all but six yards on the drive, and even had to run the same play twice in order to make it work.

With the Comets facing second and six from midfield, Mayberry threw a 22-yard strike down the left sideline to Gracia; however, a critical holding flag put Marionville in a hole with time running out.

No problem.

Mayberry went back to the well, hooking up again with Gracia for a 33-yard strike down to the Ash Grove 26.

Six plays later, Mayberry found Gracia open in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

The senior quarterback praised his junior playmaker for coming through in the clutch.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

“I came out of defense, and I went straight to my offensive coordinator,” Mayberry said. “I told him, ‘I’m going to get a good drive here, and I’m going to get us in it.’ I had a kid making plays for me all day (Gracia), and I knew he was going to keep making plays, so I went after him.”

Mayberry’s late-game poise drew hefty admiration from Marionville head coach Payden Grubbs.

“Ryan, he makes me more bald sometimes, and then he’ll make plays like that,” Grubbs said “As a senior, he stepped up and made some great throws, and our receivers made some great plays on the ball, as well.”

The quick strike left Ash Grove and quarterback Chase White a small window of opportunity with 16 seconds left on the clock; however, Goodman jumped a passing route to pick off White’s final pass of the game and raced untouched into the end zone.

“I read the whole thing,” Goodman said. “I knew [White] was going to throw it to that guy. I got it and saw nothing … just straight touchdown.”
While Mayberry and Gracia helped pull off the last-minute comeback, it was Marionville’s defense that set the tone from the opening kickoff and controlled the overall flow of the game.

Ash Grove’s first three drives resulted in a one-play fumble and a pair of missed fourth-down conversions. The Pirates were held to just 210 yards of total offense for the game.

Head coach Ryan Long talked about the problems created by the Comet pressure up front.

“Just a slow start for us,” Long said. “We had trouble with their front. Their front was just eating us up. We couldn’t get to our inside run game like we wanted to. They did a great job game-planning and took away our jet read that’s been good for us over the past couple weeks.”

The Marionville offense ran into some troubles of its own, mostly due to drive-hampering penalties.

Penalties aside, the Comets were able to put up the game’s first score when Mayberry found Jake Redus on a fourth-down, 9-yard strike. Marionville was able to extend the series thanks to an Ash Grove pass interference penalty in the end zone.

On its very next series, Marionville notched another score on an 18-yard Mayberry rush up the middle.

Still, the Pirates were able to hang around until late in the ball game, thanks to a pair of late scores in the first half by White and running back Spencer Eagleburger.

For the next 23 minutes, both teams battled for field position, yet neither could mount a significant scoring drive until White engineered an 11-play, 57-yard drive to take the lead for the first time in the game.

White’s five-yard strike to Eagleburger gave Ash Grove an 18-14 lead and set the stage for Mayberry’s last-minute heroics.

Mayberry finished the game with 88 yards rushing and another 67 yards passing. Gracia added 64 yards on the ground and 47 through the air.

Despite the loss, Coach Long praised his team for battling through the early adversity and coming within a single play to steal the win.

“That’s what we’ve been doing all year long,” Long said. “We’ve been playing close games, and we’ve been fortunate enough the last two weeks to come out on top. We do have resilient kids I was happy to get down the field and get that late score. Unfortunately, No. 2 and No. 12 took over; just two great players, and we didn’t have an answer for them.”

Wins and losses aside, Marionville enjoyed a feel-good moment immediately after the game when assistant coach Matt Price, missing from the game, was called for a quick voice chat during the team’s post-game huddle.

“Coach Price, our defensive coach, had a heart attack yesterday,” Grubbs said. “We wanted to win this game for him. That’s what made it special. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, and hopefully, this helps with the healing process.”

Next week, Marionville (3-1) travels to Lincoln, while Ash Grove (3-1) hosts Butler.

Marionville – 27, Ash Grove – 18

Marionville 7 7 0 13 — 27
Ash Grove 0 12 0 6 — 18

First quarter scoring
Marionville – Ryan Mayberry 9-yard TD pass to Jake Redus (Alexis Gracia kick)

Second quarter scoring
Marionville – Ryan Mayberry 18-yard TD rush (Alexis Gracia kick)
Ash Grove – Chase White 5-yard TD pass to Noah Branham (PAT missed)
Ash Grove – Spencer Eagleburger 9-yard TD rush (PAT missed)

Fourth quarter scoring
Ash Grove – White 5-yard TD pass to Eagleburger (2-point conversion failed)
Marionville – Mayberry 5-yard TD pass to Gracia (PAT missed)
Marionville – Josh Goodman 32-yard interception return TD (Gracia kick)

Related Posts

Loading...