MARION -- The Marion Patriots built a 35-0 halftime lead en route to a 42-16 victory over Mountain Home Friday night at Patriot Stadium.
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"I felt like we had great focus all week in practice, but we knew that we'd need great focus tonight, as well," explained Marion head coach Jed Davis. "To be honest, I was worried a little bit about a letdown after last week (a 35-14 win over Searcy), but that wasn't the case. I'm really proud of these guys tonight."
The Patriots took advantage of three lost fumbles by the Bombers, turning them into 21 points.
Mountain Home (1-6, 1-3 6A-East) lost its first fumble on the game's second snap.
Marion (4-3 overall, 3-1 6A-East) scored five plays later on a 5-yard Tom Young run for a 7-0 lead.
The Patriots moved 56 yards in six plays for its next touchdown, a 32-yard pass from Peyton Walker to Taylor Brown with 6:44 left in the first quarter.
Mountain Home drove from its 26 to the Marion 25 midway in the second quarter, but the drive ended on downs.
It took Marion 2:19 to score on a six-play, 78-yard drive to go up 28-0.
Young's 42-yard run moved Marion across midfield and Walker hit Collin Chambers for 18 yards to get to the Mountain Home 12. Young scored on a 1-yard run with 4:28 to play.
Marion's defense scored when safety Kabryn "K.B." Williams recovered a fumble and returned it 31 yards with a minute to go in the first half.
"The defense was flying around and shut them down, and I'm just really happy with their effort the past few weeks," Davis said.
Marion scored touchdowns on four of its six first-half possessions.
Walker connected with senior receiver Di Granger for a 13-yard third-quarter score for a 42-0 lead. Granger caught three passes for 70 yards on the drive.
Mountain Home scored when running back Junior Williams scored on a 5-yard run before adding the two-point conversion to get his team within 42-8.
The Bombers threw their first pass late in the fourth quarter, and it went for a touchdown.
Quarterback Isaac McKay hit Kolt Kincade for a 19-yard score, and Williams' two-point conversion run set the final at 42-16.
Sports on 10/15/2016