Text by Doug Roorbach/The News Herald–
The crowd was a late-arriving one at Dick Lootens Stadium for the Marion Giants’ football home opener Friday, which meant that the game was effectively over before many of them found their seats.
Mt. Vernon quarterback Jimmy Campbell, a 5-10 senior, called his own number and took it in from the Marion 26 yard line after only 50 seconds had elapsed. Then he lined up to hold for the point after kick, pulled the ball away and–running to his right–threw for a two-point conversion.
Mount Vernon was just getting started.
On their next five possessions the Marauders scored five touchdowns–by air, by land and, well, you get the idea.
Campbell ran 81 yards on a quarterback draw for the second touchdown (15-0).
Jordan House swept around the left end for the next one (22-0).
It was Campbell passing to running back Robbie Campbell on the first play of the second quarter to make it 29-0.
Then Alex Barnett picked off an Isaiah Hamilton (more on him later) pass and ran it back to the Giants’ 7 yard line. Robbie Campbell punched it in from there (36-0).
On its first five possessions, Marion made one first down.
Finally, though, it looked as if the Giants had the Marauders held. With just over two minutes left in the first half, Mount Vernon had made some uncharacteristic mistakes–a couple of holding penalties among them–and faced third down and goal from the Marion 23 yard line. Here, at last, was a chance for Marion to stop the bleeding and–dare we hope?–maybe get some points on the board with a drive of their own.
Didn’t happen. Facing third and forever, Campbell threw a fade to the left corner of the end zone and Braxton Trittipo hauled it in–43-0.
“It’s a nightmare on 26th Street,” said Jim Brunner, who was broadcasting the game for WBAT radio.
“It blind-sided me,” said Marion Head Coach Tank Vermillion, “I expected that we’d come out and be ready to play.”
Give Marion some credit: they kept fighting in what they knew was going to be a difficult game. Starting quarterback Lorenzo Trevino had been injured in the season opener the week before (he’ll be out 3-6 weeks), leaving Hamilton, a freshman, to start. He had flashes of brilliance and also plays that showed his lack of experience.
“He’s a freshman,” Vermillion said, “He’s probably 14 years old out there playing against 17- and 18-year-old guys. Put that in perspective.
“Last week he was kind of thrown into the fire and didn’t have time to think about it,” said Vermillion, “This week he had all week to think about it and over-analyze. You just have to relax and play the game.”
After the pass that made it 43-0, Marion showed some life. Starting on their won 23, the Giants got a first down, then were the beneficiaries of a roughing the passer call. Hamilton showed his toughness by getting up after that and passing for another first down, but on the ensuing play he fumbled the snap.
“There were times when I thought, ‘OK, here we go,'” Vermillion said, “and then next thing you know we would turn the ball over or have a penalty and start going backwards. We’ve got to be able to cut out those particular things because they always seem to happen at key times.”
Hamilton picked up that fumble, though, and scampered to the sideline. That left the Giants short of the first down, facing fourth and two deep in Marauders territory. Marion went for it, but was stopped. Mount Vernon took over on downs and took a knee to end the half.
It was the first possession they didn’t score on.
The Marauders sent in their substitutes for the second half and slowed their offense, keeping the ball on the ground and running the clock. Marion’s defense did better, surrendering just one score–most notable for the fact that the PAT was made by left-footed kicker Blair Viehweg, on loan from the girls’ soccer team.
The Marion offense’s troubles continued, though. They drove from their own 31 to Mount Vernon’s 36 to start the second half, but a tipped pass was picked off and Hamilton threw a pick on their next possession as well.
“They played their defense specifically to take [the wide receivers] out of the game,” Vermillion said. “They felt like if they could slow down or stop our receivers they could stop our offense.”
“We’ve got to be able to play with whomever, and we’ve got to play smoothly,”said Vermillion, “Tonight, we just weren’t smooth. We made some mistakes.”
In the last three minutes, though, Marion had a final opportunity when a sack by Josh Gadd and a short punt by Mount Vernon gave the Giants good field position on their own 41. They quickly gained two first downs and drove to Mount Vernon’s 33, where the drive faced a fourth down and four.
Hamilton’s pass fell incomplete, but it was because of pass interference and the call gave the Giants a first down on the 13 with less than 30 seconds to go. It took four plays, but on fourth down from the five yard line with just five seconds left, Hamilton rolled to his left and found Keiron Sanders, who went in for the score.
“We’re a team that doesn’t quit,” said Vermillion, “That’s within us. That’s what I’ve driven into these guys since I’ve been here. We never say die, we never give up, we never quit…Effort has not been a problem this year. I don’t think they ever quit. The things we have to get better at are…technique and focus.”
Mount Vernon blocked the extra point.
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