Marysville’s Thomas Rush lunges for additional yardage near the goal line against Westland on Friday. Rush gained 90 yards on 15 carries during MHS’ 27-6 Homecoming victory.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
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Marysville snapped a two-game losing skid Friday night by getting back to its bread-and-butter – rushing offense and rushing defense.
The Monarchs rolled up 246 yards on the ground in a 27-6 Homecoming win over Westland, while holding the Cougars to negative 13 yards rushing.
“We needed to get that taste back in our mouth,” said MHS coach Brent Johnson.
Thomas Rush paced the Monarch ground attack with 90 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.
“When our offense got in rhythm it looked really, really good,” Johnson said.
Johnson was happy with the way his charges were able to run the ball inside and outside with balance. That kept the Westland from packing its defense in and helped open up the Monarchs’ trap game.
Rush also hauled in a touchdown pass from quarterback Walker Heard, who had his second solid outing in a row, completing six-of-eight passes for 106 yards.
“We have been working on our pass game a lot,” Johnson said, noting that his offense continue to show more confidence in throwing situations.
As strong as Marysville looked in some phases of the game, other aspects need attention, namely the Monarchs’ persistence in getting gashed by big plays through the air.
Westland threw for 222 yards, hitting Marysville for completions of 76, 47, 29 and 24 yards. Only the unbreakable Monarch run defense kept the game from being much closer.
Marysville also needs work on cutting down its 11 penalties from Friday night, though that number is a bit deceiving. The Monarchs were called for multiple false starts on offense, which the MHS sidelines blamed on the Westland defense mimicking the Monarch snap count.
“We have to handle that stuff,” Johnson said of the trickery.
Finally, in the second half the officials caught the Cougars using a fake cadence and flagged them for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Marysville took the opening kickoff and rammed it down the field on a 68-yard scoring drive.
Rush picked up a couple workmanlike first downs before later ripping off a 22-yard run around the right end to take the ball to the Westland 2.
The Monarch senior took the ball up the gut for a touchdown on the next play and Thomas Wolfe hit the point after for the 7-0 Monarch lead three and a half minutes into the game.
Following a Cougar punt, Marysville went on a six-minute march that took the game into the second quarter.
Heard hit Jarret Braun on a 31-yard, over-the-shoulder completion on third-and-20 to move the chains. He later hit Bodie Eberhart for 13 yards to put the ball inside the 20.
A couple of false starts against the Monarchs stalled the drive, however, and Marysville settled for a 38-yard field goal by Wolfe to put the score at 10-0 early in the second quarter.
Westland went to the old double pass on its first possession of the second quarter. Jonathan Curry was off to the races, all the way to the Marysville 4.
The MHS D came up big on four straight plays as the Cougars were pushed backward. They turned the ball over on downs at the Monarch 5.
Another false start helped keep the Monarch offense pinned deep on the next possession. A short punt allowed Westland to take the ball at the Monarch 30. The Cougars were able to move down inside the 10, but from there, they lost yardage and again turned the ball over on downs, this time at the MHS 15.
Marysville fumbled the ball on its next drive, giving Westland great field possession again at the Monarch 40. But on the next play, Eberhart picked off Westland QB Tyquwone Workman on a deep ball near the goal line and returned it to the Marysville 42, preserving the 10-0 halftime lead.
Johnson said his coaching staff challenged the Monarch offense at halftime and it responded by scoring on the first two drives of the half.
After a shanked Westland punt, the Monarch pushed in from 45-yards out for a touchdown.
Yet another false start appeared to dismantle the drive. However, on third-and-18 Heard rolled out left and threw back across the field to Rush ,who was waiting in the flat. Rush only had to make one man miss and then raced in from 30 yards out for the score. Wolfe’s PAT put the score at 17-0 with just over five minutes left in the third.
Thanks to another long pass, this time a 47-yarder to Anthony Widen, the Cougars moved into Monarch territory and eventually all the way down to the MHS 7. Once again, the Monarch offense came up big on fourth down and got the ball back.
All Marysville did from there was go on a 93-yard, six-minute scoring march that saw Westland get dinged for mimicking the snap count and Braun score on a 19-yard counter.
Wolfe’s PAT at the 7:34 mark of the fourth quarter made the score 24-0.
Marysville would add more points late when Wolfe hit a 27-yard field goal to push the advantage to 27 points, but the Monarch pass defense would again stub its toe.
Workman completed a big 29-yard pass to put the ball in Monarch territory.
The defense appeared to come up with another stop as it forced fourth down. But this time, Workman found Osumane Dabo for a 13-yard touchdown. The two-point try failed, closing out the scoring at 27-6.
The Monarchs, now 3-4, will travel to Upper Arlington on Friday.