Marmaton Valley High’s Wildcats showcased their speed Friday night in a 66-20 win against Uniontown High’s Eagles.
Friday’s win kept Marmaton’s record perfect for the season at 6-0. Coach Kent Houk said the offensive line was the key to victory against the Eagles. He said the Wildcat Lineman created the space the running backs needed to get down the field.
“The front line gave nice holes up front, and that led to open grass for our running backs,” Houk said.
Houk said in spite of their successes, the team needs to be “much more sound on defense” before playoffs. The Wildcats have three games remaining in the regular season. They look to keep their record clean against Pleasanton High in one week.
The Wildcats racked up 423 total yards of offense, most of which coming on the ground with 363 yards of rushing. Wildcat seniors Ryan Smith and Cole Becker led the team in on the ground. Becker carried the ball 23 times for 242 yards and Smith ran 15 times for 117 yards. Lucas Hamlin had the longest reception of the night at 22 yards. Smith connected with Lucas Hamlin on a 34-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to begin the scoring. A Uniontown score was followed with an eight-yard touchdown run by Smith and a five-yard score by Becker.
Smith scored twice more before half, covering 14 and five yards, while Becker added a three-yard scoring run. Smith and Becker kept up the pace in the second half. Smith’s 12-yard touchdown run was followed by Becker’s 56-yard jaunt.
Smith completed four passes for 60 yards.
The Eagles moved the ball, but the Wildcat defense held the “bend not break” philosophy throughout the night. Smith led the team in tackles with 11, followed closely by Becker and Carlos Gonzales with nine each. Jared Kale and Levi Ramsey each had one sack. Uniontown’s total yards were cut short by two key interceptions from Gonzales and senior Jimmy Frye.
Eagle’s tailback John Reed scored first for the Eagles midway through the first quarter. Garrett Murrow scored the remaining two touchdowns in the game, one in the second quarter and one in the third.
Uniontown 6-8-6-x—20
Marmaton Valley 24-14-20-8—66
MV — Hamlin 34 yd pass from Smith (Becker run)
Uniontown — Reed 24 yd run (PAT failed)
MV — Smith 8 yd run (Smith run)
MV — Becker 5 yd run (Smith run)
Uniontown — Murrow 4 yd run (Reed pass from Wiley)
MV — Smith 14 yd run (PAT failed)
MV — Becker 3 yd run (Smith run)
MV — Smith 5 yd run (PAT failed)
Uniontown — Murrow 11 yd run (PAT failed)
MV — Smith 12 yd run (PAT failed)
MV — Becker 36 yd run (Becker run)
Uniontown Marmaton Valley
First Downs 10 15
Rushing 34-172 41-363
Passing-yds 34 60
Total Offense 206 423
Passing 5-16 4-7
Fumbles 0 0
Punting 2-55 0
Penalties 6-45 4-35
