The Marion Giants were undisciplined, committing 10 plus penalties for the second week in a row.
Their passing game was out of sync, as quarterback Justin “Juice” Johnson completed only four passes on the evening.
They played careless football, committing five turnovers, including three interceptions from Johnson.
And yet, the Marion Giants, for the second week in a row, won the football game.
On the back of a strong defensive effort, including three pick-sixes, the Marion Giants defeated the Mt. Vernon Marauders 40-16 on Friday night.
“Early on the season, I’ve been telling the defense that they were going to have to carry us until we get the offense together,” head coach, Craig Chambers, said. “Sometimes it takes the offense a while to get rolling and get going, and we have a new group coming together. We are still a little sluggish, but we are going to keep working at it.”
At the beginning of the game, however, it seemed that the Giants’ offense was clicking on all cylinders.
On the first play of the game, the Giants ran a double reverse with JK Thomas, who took the ball 65 yards into Marauders’ red zone, and scored two plays later on a 16 yard run by Thomas.
After that though, things started getting a little ugly.
On their next possession, Johnson was sacked in the end zone for a safety. The next possession, he threw an interception to end another Giants’ drive.
However, while the Giants’ offense struggled, their defense helped to bail them out.
With the Marauders driving, Montreal Poge came away with the Giants’ second interception of the contest to give the ball back to the offense.
On the first play after the turnover, Johnson called his own number and scampered 55 yards to the end zone in the waning seconds of the opening quarter to give the Giants a 12-2 lead.
After Johnson’s touchdown run, the Giants’ took control and helped put the game out of reach for the Marauders.
Early in the second quarter, Johnson also showed his defensive acumen, coming with the Giants’ third interception of the evening and taking it 70 yards to the house to increase the Giants’ lead.
Travis Metzger kept the pick-six party going later in the second quarter, stepping in front of another poorly thrown Marauder pass to give the Giants a 26-2 halftime led.
Braden Burk got in on the action as well late in the third quarter, scoring the Giants’ third pick six of the evening to increase the Giants’ lead to 33-2.
After the Marauders scored two quick touchdowns on two possessions to make it a 17 point game early in the fourth quarter, the Giants’ offense, which had struggled for most of the second half, put together a methodical drive. Using an effective running game, the Giants were able to eat away at the clock and most importantly, score an insurance touchdown to give them an insurmountable lead.
In summary, it wasn’t the prettiest game, and it was far from perfect. They committed too many penalties, and turned the ball over too many times, but in the end, the Giants were able to come away with the victory.
If the Giants can fix these mistakes as the season progresses, the sky is the limit for this team.
“The defense played at a high level, and special teams did real well – we just need to make sure to get better on both sides of the ball,” Chambers said after the win. “We are a good ball club, but we are struggling a little bit [in those areas offensively]. We just have to go through and fix that, work on the small things, and then work on execution.”
“Once we got the offense together and we get some camaraderie with them, we are going to be okay.”
