By Don Abernathy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
MARIONVILLE — During his 8-year tenure at Marionville, head football coach Paden Grubbs has always wanted to hold practice during the week of Thanksgiving.
After a clutch goal-line stand in the final seconds on Saturday, his wish will come true, and he has his defense to thank for it.
Facing a Portageville running attack with momentum on 1st-and-goal with under a minute remaining, the Marionville defense withstood the Bulldogs’ barrage and came away with a 17-14 Class 1 quarterfinal win at Bill Redus Field.
“Our kids are resilient, tough, and full of courage and I’m so thankful for them to be able to gut that win out,” Grubbs said.
“I’m so proud of our defense, they’ve been carrying us all year, and I’m glad they were able to get that stop at the end.”
With no time outs and under a minute remaining in the game, Portageville was set up at the Marionville 6-yard line. The Bulldogs rushed twice, had a false start penalty and two incomplete passes, before the penultimate play of the game.
On fourth down from the 5-yard line, Adams targeted senior Aaron Dunlap in the end zone, with Marionville senior Gage Guerin defending, as the pass fell to the turf incomplete with just 2.2 seconds remaining on the clock.
All that was left was a Comets kneel-down at the 1-yard line to complete the victory.
Marionville (12-0) host the St. Vincent Indians (9-3) from Perryville, in the state semifinals next Saturday (Nov. 25) at 1 p.m.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“I always tell our coaches that I hope we are practicing over Thanksgiving because that means we are doing some good things and that you have a special team,” Grubbs said. “To be able to play at home again next week is huge for us.”
The Comets scored on their second possession of the game when sophomore quarterback Bryer Guerin connected with sophomore Cash Pomeroy for a sliding touchdown grab and a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Portageville muffed a kickoff fair catch following the touchdown and Marionville recovered at the Bulldogs’ 37-yard line.
Marionville capitalized on the miscue just five plays later and took a 14-0 lead when sophomore quarterback Bryer Guerin scored from the 1-yard line with 1:45 left in the first quarter.
“The Portageville D-line was a big group up front, so we preached to our guys all week that we had to get off the ball and be physical,” Marionville senior running back Hugh Eaton said. “We were able to do that and execute.”
On the ensuing possession, Portageville put together a 15-play, 60-yard drive that was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jamarion Smith, to cut the lead to 14-6 midway through the second quarter.
After halftime, the Bulldogs had a 14-play drive end at the Marionville 8-yard line with a big defensive stand.
“Portageville is the most talented offense we’ve played and coach Grubbs told us before the game to ‘bend but don’t break,’” Eaton said.
“We got two goal line stands there and that’s a testament to ‘bend but don’t break.’”
The Comets followed the turnover on downs with a 15-play drive of their own. Senior kicker Gabe Uttini booted home a 24-yard field goal, the eventual game winner, for a 17-6 lead with 11:56 left in the game.
The Bulldogs answered with a 5-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Mason Adams, along with the 2-point conversion, to cut the lead to 17-14 with 8:55 remaining.
“Our ability to run the ball was huge in the second half,” Grubbs said. “In the fourth quarter, I felt like we were getting a little tired, especially after they got that score and had a little momentum.
“We wanted to control the clock and I think they only had three possessions the entire second half and that was the type of game that we wanted.”
