Marlington defeats South Range 54-7

By JIM FLICK

Vindicator Correspondent

NORTH LIMA — Led by a relentless running attack and a dominant defense, Marlington defeated South Range, 54-7, on Friday night.

The Dukes were led by sophomore Alden Hill, who gained 221 yards on just 15 carries and scored three touchdowns. While Hill had started Marlington’s previous two games this season, coach Ed Miley said Friday’s game was the first time Hill had been featured as the team’s primary offensive weapon.

But Hill wasn’t the Marlington’s only offensive weapon. The Dukes gained 396 yards in total offense, while holding the Raiders to just 156 yards in total offense.

“How can you anticipate that?” South Range coach Dan Yeagley said, referring to Hill’s success. “The kid did a very good job.

“We’re going to start over next week,” Yeagley added. “League play is the king, and we start league play next week. If you’d asked me before the season started what our goal is, I would have said it is to win our league [Inter-Tri County League Tier One] and that’s still our goal.”

Friday night’s game turned against South Range quickly. The Raiders received the opening kickoff, but fumbled the ball away on the first play from scrimmage. On the second play after the turnover, Hill scored on a 34-yard run.

After South Range was held without a first down on its next offensive series and had to punt the ball back to Marlington, the Dukes quickly scored their second touchdown, this time on a five-play, 75-yard drive. Dymonte Thomas scored his team’s second touchdown, on a 23-yard run. The extra point failed, but Marlington led 13-0.

South Range scored its only touchdown later in the first quarter, when an eight-play, 65-yard drive ended when Kyle Seaver caught a 44-yard pass from quarterback Vince Evans. Ethan Witmer kicked the extra point to cut Marlington’s lead to 13-7.

But Marlington pulled away in the second quarter. Hill scored his second touchdown of the night early in the quarter on a 21-yard scamper into the end zone to end a five-play 87-yard drive. After a short punt by South Range a few minutes later, quarterback Tyler Royer ended a four-play, 29-yard drive by dashing 5 yards into the end zone.

Marlington scored its fifth touchdown of the night when Clayton Stalb recovered a South Range fumble and returned it 12 yards into the end zone.

Hill scored his third touchdown of the night, and the last points of the first half, on a 23-yard run. The extra point attempt failed, but Marlington led 39-7 at the half.

Yeager said that the Marlington squad “is a very, very well-coached team. Their kids came out strong. They are a very talented team. When you play teams that are that good, you’ve got to play your best. And this may be the best team we play all season.”