BENTON --- In the waning moments of Marion's 59-37 quarterfinal victory last Friday night at Benton's Everett Field, known to locals as The Palace, a group of Patriot football players hoisted a water bucket and dumped it over first-year coach Lance Clark's head. Whatever it takes to cool off arguably the hottest team left in the state playoffs. Marion (6-6 overall) amassed 616 yards total offense, paced by senior quarterback Ben Gerrard's hyper efficient 18 of 24 passing for 428 yards and five touchdowns. Gerrard's favorite target was senior Zion Burnside, who caught eight passes for 167 yards and a TD. Burnside turned four third-down touches into first downs. Junior receiver Donnie Cheers snatched six passes for 171 yards and three TDs. Senior tailback Cam Anderson, who surpassed 1,600 rushing yards this season at Benton, zipped for 151 yards and three scores. "We feel like we're the only team who can beat us, and at times this year, we have done that," said Clark. "It took us, and our staff, a little bit to figure out who we really are. As we've found that identity, we've gotten better and better. We were a little up and down early in the year, but the resiliency of this team is the biggest thing to me." Marion's fifth consecutive victory, and sixth in seven outings, pushed the Pats into the state semifinals for the third time in school history (all since 2006), and for the second straight season. Marion has never played for a state title. In two of the last three games, Marion has beaten 6A East co-champion, and No. 1 seed Jonesboro (50-43) and outright 6A West champion Benton, which finishes 9-2 overall. The Pats play at 6A East co-champion El Dorado Friday night at 7 p.m. Tied at 24 at halftime, Marion ambushed Benton with a nearly flawless second half. Marion scored touchdowns on its first five drives after the break. The final Patriot drive ended in the victory formation. Marion took its first lead of the night when it marched the opening kickoff of the third quarter 53 yards in five plays. Anderson ran a yard to paydirt for a 31-24 advantage with 10:23 left in the third quarter. The Patriot defense forced a three and out on Benton's ensuing drive, and it took the offense two plays to score, when Gerrard connected with Cheers for a 59-yard scoring strike for a 38-24 lead. Benton converted a fake punt on its next drive, which the Panthers cashed in for a score when tailback Casey Johnson covered the last 3 yards for a TD to get the hosts within 38-31 late in the third quarter. Marion responded with a classic drive, as the Pats perfectly meshed run and pass to a 75-yard, 12-play scoring journey. The Pats claimed a 45-31 advantage when Gerrard found Cheers from 3 yards out on the final play of the third quarter. The Marion defense forced a pair of incompletions before senior defensive lineman Johnny Nichols registered a sack on third down to force another Benton three and out. Marion saddled up Anderson on the next drive, and the senior toted the rock eight times for 40 yards, including a 7-yard TD run with 5:42 left in regulation, as the Pats earned a 52-31 lead. Jeremiah and Johnny Nichols tallied tackles for losses on Benton's ensuing drive, which ended in a turnover on downs. Marion took over at the Benton 39-yard line, and forced the Panthers to use all of their timeouts. Facing fourth and 7 at the Panther 26-yard line, Gerrard hit senior Kaleb Catt on a play-action pass for a 26-yard TD pass and a 59-31 lead. Benton clinched the final score when the Panthers scored with eight seconds remaining against Marion reserves, a far cry from the first half, when Benton scored touchdowns on its first three drives. "Benton is an incredibly explosive and well-coached offense, and quite honestly, they had a better plan than we did early on," said Clark. "We were chasing a little bit early on, and eventually we made a few adjustments and our kids got settled in. The story again for us was our front four dominated the second half, and that made the difference." Marion kept pace as the defense found its way in the first half when Gerrard found Cheers for a 59-yard score to tie the game at 7. Anderson knotted the score at 14 with 20.7 second left in the first quarter on a 2-yard TD run. The score was 14-all after the opening stanza. Gerrard connected with Burnside for a 47-yard scoring strike early in the second quarter to tie the game at 21. Senior kicker Dylan Pieri got Marion even at 24 with a booming 34-yard field goal with 43.4 seconds left in the first half. Marion's semifinal game at El Dorado will be livestreamed on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.