Rural Retreat Loses to Marion

     Friday, September 20th, the Rural Retreat Indians went to Marion to face the Scarlet Hurricanes. Rural Retreat won the coin toss, and received the ball in the first quarter. The Indians started the game at their 19 yard line. Rural Retreat made a big run, and came close to the end zone. There was a flag thrown on the play against Rural Retreat, but it was, luckily, ignored. Rural Retreat wasn't able to do anything with the ball, and Marion received the ball. There was a penalty called on the Hurricanes for delay of game; however, Marion scored a touchdown shortly after. They scored the first touchdown about four minutes into the game, but didn't get the extra point. Rural Retreat and Marion both got the ball back and forth without much action. Later, about eight minutes into the first quarter, the Indians scored a touchdown, and tied Marion. For the remainder of the quarter, the Indians and Hurricanes went back and forth, but didn't gain any ground. The score at the end of the first quarter was tied 6 to 6.

     In the second quarter, Rural Retreat got the ball first. They stayed near midfield, and didn't get another first down. Marion got the ball, and with two consecutive plays, ran 96 yards and scored another touchdown. This time, the extra point was good, and the score was then 13 to 6. When Rural Retreat got the ball back, they again stayed toward midfield and made no progress. When the Hurricanes got the ball again, they ran a 74-yard touchdown, but didn't kick the field goal. Rural Retreat got the ball back, and made a final push to score during the last bit of the half. The Indians got near the end zone, but didn't get a touchdown. When Marion got the ball, with only 27 seconds left, they scored another touchdown and also got the field goal. The first half ended with the score 26 Hurricanes, 6 Indians.

     Rural Retreat received the ball in the third quarter, and scored a touchdown. The Indians then got a two-point conversion, and gained eight more points. Later, Marion scored another touchdown. Again, when Rural Retreat got the ball, they tried to move forward, but Marion kept Rural Retreat from making any progress. Marion’s defense prevailed again, and got the ball back. The Hurricanes scored a touchdown with only two minutes left in the quarter. They tried to get a two-point conversion, but lost the ball during the play. The quarter ended with a score of 32 Hurricanes, 14 Indians.

     In the final quarter of the game, each team gave the remainder of their strength to try to change the score. Neither made any large plays, and the time slowly went by. Marion scored a touchdown, and got the extra point. This left the score 39 to 14. There were only three minutes left on the clock, and Rural Retreat made one final effort to change the score. Junior Stone Mullins was hurt during a play, and was carefully helped off the field. The game ended, and the score was 39 Hurricanes, 14 Indians. It was a tough game, but the Indians gave it everything they had. Marion was a tough game, but both teams played well. Hopefully there will be more victories in the future.

-Dylan Crigger and Anna Brown