Published: October 08, 2009 10:42 pm      

Storms brewing in Marion tonight

RICHLANDS, Va. — A heavy barrage of football power will tip the Doppler radar tonight when two storm fronts meet in Marion. The Blue Tornado takes on the Scarlet Hurricane (5-0, 2-0) in an epic battle of two unbeaten teams in the Southwest District.

Richlands (4-1, 2-0) is coming off their second district game of the season when they beat Tazewell last Friday in a physical confrontation.

“We try to keep the emotions in check (in every game),” Richlands head coach Greg Mance said. “We try not to let the kids get too high or too low, we like to keep an even keel. It was tough at first against Tazewell, but, they finally settled down.”

This week, the Blues face a Hurricane team that has found a way to win when their backs are against the wall including a last second win against Grundy last week.

“Marion does a lot of things offensively with different looks,” Mance said. “They run the option and they run a lot of misdirection and we’re going to have to be prepared to compete with Marion.”

The ‘Canes have halfback Brett Johnson and fullback Eric Bane coming out of the backfield presenting the complete package of speed and power for their running attack. Johnson leads the Marion ground game this season with 651 yards on 61 carries with seven touchdowns. Bane has 436 yards on 77 carries with six touchdowns followed by quarterback Matt Noe who has 306 yards on 53 carries with five touchdowns.

“No. 45 (Bane) can make you miss and he can run over top of people,” Mance said. “No. 1 (Johnson) can flat out run you. He had 256 yards against Graham and their quarterback (Noe) has broken the home run a couple of times.”

Johnson set up the game-winning touchdown against Grundy last week when he returned a Wave kickoff 73 yards to the 16-yard line putting the ‘Canes inside the red zone. Grundy had Marion contained in three downs before Noe ran in a 19-yard touchdown on fourth-and-12.

“We have talked all year about not quitting and they didn’t,” Marion head coach Mike Briscoe said. “Matt (Noe) scrambled and Grundy almost caught him, but he was able to score.”

“I was about to have a heart attack. I can’t stand many more plays like that.”

Before the Tornado got into their winning stride last week, they had a turnover that stopped an early drive against Tazewell.

“We’re going to have to take care of the football,” Mance said. “We had a fumble (last week) and it was the first turnover we’d had in three games. We had a couple of missed assignments offensively and there would be a Tazewell player there to make the play.”

Devon Johnson was the leading ground gainer for Richlands a week ago when he totaled 98 yards on 13 carries taking his season yardage total to 452. Austin Johnson scored two rushing touchdowns against Tazewell and caught a 50-yard bomb from Tornado quarterback, Cody Johnson.

The Tornado offense accounted for 260 all-purpose yards while the Blues defense complimented the effort by holding the Bulldogs to eight yards rushing and 25 more passing last week.

Marion has yet to beat the Blues since they came into the SWD in 2007, however, the ‘Canes came close that season before the Tornado came back and won by two points.

“I think coming into the Southwest District was best for us,” Briscoe said. “We’re more physical and we’ve stepped up to the plate. Playing at home works best for us because Richlands is one or two scores better when they play at home.

“We’ll prepare the same, we’re just two traditional programs and we have to play our best game.”

“There’s going to be a big crowd and it’ll be for first place in the district,” Mance said. “There’ll be a lot of excitement and our kids thrive in that type of arena.”

The Blues have scored 174 points on the season and their stingy defense has allowed 49 points through five games.

“The most important game of the season is the one we’re playing and this is game six,” Mance said. “Our preparation this week is for Marion and that’s been the secret to our success.”