Clutch defense

MARIA STEIN - The Marion Local Flyers were in a giving mood Friday night at Booster Stadium. Fortunately for the hosts, the New Bremen Cardinals couldn't do much with the gifts they received.

The Flyers survived six turnovers thanks to a smothering defense and escaped with a 21-13 victory in a rematch of last year's Division VII regional final. Marion improves to 2-0 on the year while New Bremen falls to 1-1.

"We haven't played well at all the first two weeks and we've beaten two pretty good teams," stated a relieved Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin. "There is potential here if we could ever tap it."

Marion's offense was stagnant for nearly the entire first half. After fumbling the ball away on the first play from scrimmage, the hosts went another four series without moving the sticks.

New Bremen, meanwhile, was content to win the field-position battle early on before striking first late in the opening stanza. Facing a fourth-and-two, quarterback Mitchell Hays rolled out and found Trevor Bergman in the middle of a flock of Flyers. The junior wideout somehow snared the pass and shuffled into the end zone for a 27-yard score. The extra point sailed wide right, but the visitors had drawn first blood.

The Flyers continued to sputter on offense but finally pulled themselves together late in the half. Carson Griesdorn's 20-yard strike to Charlie Huelsman put the hosts into Cardinal territory for the first time all game, and with time running down Peyton Otte hauled in a 33-yard gain to the Cardinals' 4-yard line. More frustration followed for the Flyers, though, as Grant Meier was stuffed at the 1-yard line as time ran out in the half.

In the second half the turnover parade started. Otte muffed a punt to give the Cardinals the ball back, but on the Flyers' next possession the junior receiver pulled in a bomb from Griesdorn and outraced everyone for an 88-yard touchdown.

Marion was moving again on its next possession, but a solid hit on Drew Seitz popped the ball into the air and into the waiting arms of Hays, who zigged and zagged 63 yards to give New Bremen a 13-7 advantage.

The Flyers struck back quickly through the air, as Griesdorn found Huelsman on a 46-yard strike and later hit Otte on a fade pattern for an 11-yard strike to put the hosts back in front.

The Cardinals had plenty of chances to turn the tables. They recovered another muffed punt, picked off a Griesdorn pass and scooped up another fumble, but the Flyer defense did not allow so much as a first down until the visitors' final possession of the night.

New Bremen coach Chris Schmidt accepted blame for team's offensive woes.

"That's my fault," he said. "I've got to do a better job of offensively trying to help us put points on the board. That was kind of the game we expected - two defenses that are really good slugging it out."

The Flyers finally put together a turnover-free drive while picking up big chunks on the ground late in the game. Seitz put his team on top 21-13 when he broke several tackles en route to a 19-yard scoring scamper.

The Cardinals were still not done, but the Flyer defense put together one last stand. With just a couple of minutes remaining, three completions took the ball to the brink of the red zone, but a pair of brothers teamed up to send the hosts home happy.

Hayes tried to rifle a pass over the middle but Grant Meier greeted the intended receiver with a hard hit that sent the ball skyward, and Darren Meier snared the interception that effectively ended the game.

"The defense played awesome that second half," complimented Goodwin. "Just awesome. They didn't have many first downs, I don't think, other than towards the end."

Still, despite two wins over a couple of stout opponents, Goodwin knows play will have to improve on the offensive end.

"It's just assignment stuff, and it's driving me bonkers," Goodwin said. "Hopefully we're going to find an identity. We've been tinkering just like we always do, but the whole process is just off to me. I'm probably screwing everything up by not simplifying things, maybe, but we'll figure something out."

Both teams hit the road next Friday, with New Bremen traveling to Delphos to take on St. John's and Marion heading south to battle with Versailles.