Marysville’s Deven Slabaugh goes over the end line for a touchdown against Olentangy Liberty on Friday. The Monarchs fell, 32-21.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
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The difference between a successful program and one which often struggles boils down to how it processes stress.
Trailing after three quarters at Marysville Friday night, Olentangy Liberty was clearly feeling pressure to perform.
Gone are the seniors that led the Patriots to a 13-1 record and a trip to the Division I state semifinals a year ago, but the winning attitude remains. Part of that formula is the ability to use stress as a motivator, rather than a weight on your back.
Trailing 21-19 heading into the fourth quarter, Liberty clearly refocused and got serious. The result was a final period in which the Patriot offense scored 13 points and the defense never let Marysville escape the shadow of its own goal post.
The Patriots won, 32-21.
MHS coach Brent Johnson was pleased with his team’s effort on the night, especially against a team with the pedigree of Liberty. But he also stressed the need for his team to face adversity in the fourth quarter and still hang on for a win.
“I thought our kids’ effort was outstanding,” Johnson said. “That kind of effort is exactly what I want.”
Friday night marked the first game of the young season in which the Monarchs were outmuscled on the line of scrimmage. Liberty was big in the trenches, on defense rotating nose guards who were 6-2, 305, and 6-6, 280.
The result was clogged running lanes, which tamped down the potent Monarchs’ running game which had been piling up more than 300 yards a game on the ground. The Monarchs finished the night with 176 rushing yards, 51 of those coming on one burst by Thomas Rush in the first half
Rush finished with 93 yards on 12 carries.
Marysville’s defense was quick to the point of attack, coming up with timely sacks, bottling up Liberty’s horizontal passing scheme and snuffing a pair of fake punts.
Marysville’s first score of the night came when Monarch Tayden Jackson stripped Patriot quarterback Mitchel Okuley on a sack and teammate Tyler Connolly recovered the ball at the Liberty 7.
Devin Slabaugh was able to punch the ball in from the 3 and Thomas Wolfe hit the point after to give the Monarchs the lead with 3:44 left in the first quarter.
Marysville sniffed out a Patriot fake punt on the ensuing series and took the ball near midfield as the game moved into the second quarter. However, the Monarchs gave the ball back when quarterback Walker Heard was picked off by Liberty’s Johnny Wiseman. The Patriot senior returned the ball to the MHS 25 and set up a 15-yard scoring lob from Okuley to 6-4 wideout Benjamin Roderick.
The point after tied the game with 10:02 to play until the half.
After starting the next drive at the 20, Marysville quickly moved into Liberty territory when Rush took an inside counter up the right sidelines 51 yards to the OL 25.
The Monarchs faced fourth-and-1 at the 18, but Heard plunged ahead for the needed yard and later picked up another first down on a keeper. Rush capped the drive with a five-yard run and Wolfe’s PAT made it 14-7 with 5:23 left in the half.
The Patriots kept the game close, as OKuley heaved one to Mitchel Kershner for a 48-yard gain, all the way to the MHS 2. From there, bowling-ball running back Matthew Webb, at 215 pounds wedged into a 5’9 frame, took it into the end zone.
The PAT attempt doinked the upright, however, leaving Marysville with a 14-13 advantage with just under three minutes to play until the half.
The teams traded punts to open the second half, before the Patriots decided to try another fake punt and were once again stuffed, this time at Liberty 40.
At this point Marysville, which appeared to be stuck in slow motion, strung together three straight plays that showed the Monarchs believed they could win.
On first down, Brayden Lewis took one of his first handoffs of the season and appeared bottled up for a short gain. He kept his legs churning, however, and his linemen eventually filled in behind him rugby scrum style, pushing him and the pile past the first down marker.
On the next play, Heard appeared nearly sacked, but broke loose and ran 14 yards for another first down. Jarret Braun found the corner on the following first down play and picked up another nine yards.
Slabaugh covered the final five yards on a gritty run. Wolfe’s conversino made the score 21-13 with just under four minutes left in the third period.
Webb appeared to get stronger as the half progressed, resetting the chains until the Patriots were inside the red zone.
From there, Okuley hit Roderick on a bubble screen and he used his blockers to perfection and ran 17 yards into the end zone untouched. Liberty went for two, but the pass attempt was batted down at the line of scrimmage, leaving the Monarchs clinging to a 21-19 advantage.
The Patriots then pinned back their ears.
The Monarchs, who gained only 40 yards in the entire second half, were held without a first down in the final quarter. Part of the reason was that the Monarchs were stuffed on first, and even second down, leaving them facing third-and-long on each drive in the final quarter.
Marysville, which has completed only a handful of passes all season and just one on Friday, does not have an ideal offense for anything beyond third-and-seven.
“You have got to win on first down,” Johnson said after the game.
The Monarchs did not, and as a result the Patriots’ worst starting field position of the final period was the Monarch 35.
Liberty would take the lead on an 11-yard pass from Okuley to Wiseman.
The failed two-point try kept the game in reach at 25-21, Liberty, with eight minutes to play. However, on the next drive Webb abused the Monarch defense on the short field and eventually went in for a two-yard score. The point after closed out the scoring at 32-21 with 4:51 left in the game.
Liberty picked up 163 yards on the ground in the game and Okuley added 151 in the air. Webb ran for 135 yards on 29 carries.
The Monarchs picked up 183 yards in the game, all but seven of which came on the ground.
The Monarchs, now 1-2, will travel to Grove City on Friday.