When the Marion Patriots take the field this Friday night at War Memorial Stadium, they will be looking to accomplish something that's happened only two other times in school history. Marion's game Friday night at Little Rock Catholic will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. A victory at 9-0 Little Catholic would earn the Pats a share of the conference title, which Marion only accomplished previously in 1984 and 2006, arguably two of the district's most beloved football teams ever. While the 2022 Pats, who may be a year ahead of schedule in battling for conference supremacy with 10 underclassmen starting on offense and seven underclassmen starting or rotating heavily on defense, are still writing their story, here are the tales from Marion's two previous title winners. 1984 Bill Cook graduated from Rison High School in 1969 with hopes of playing college football. There was just one problem. “I was about 150 pounds soaking wet playing the offensive line,” said Cook. “That's not usually a recipe for success.” Cook instead settled in at Henderson State University for college and joined the football program in a supporting role as a manager and trainer. Cook was happy at Hughes when nearby Marion came calling in January 1983. Marion was a slightly larger school than Hughes at the time, a member of the 3AAA, but the coach had some more insight that helped guide his decision-making. “A few years before I got there, Marion had some great players, David East, Ray Brown, who all went on to play some college football and Brown even made it to the NFL,” said Cook. “We knew they had a great group there at the high school level, and they had been beating us in junior high, so we saw some of those kids, and I was sold. It was a good move for sure.” The Marion move paid dividends for Cook, but at the time, many wondered about the perception of Marion football on a statewide level. The Pats had qualified for the playoffs just once (1980) when Cook took the job and had struggled to keep pace with league rivals Rivercrest, Wynne, Osceola, and Newport, all of which had won or would go on to win state championships in the 1980s. But still, there was talent roaming the Marion campus. Twelve dedicated seniors, 10 juniors, and a big sophomore class dotted the roster for Cook's first group of Patriots from a group that finished 4-6 in 1982. Early projections for 1983 conceded the 3AAA title to Rivercrest, and why not? The Colts in those days moved talent en masse to major college programs, and that season was no different with halfback Richard Brothers signing with the University of Arkansas. Rivercrest proved superior to the field, running the table against the league, including a nailbiter in October against upstart Marion, winning by one possession. But the Pats outperformed all projections despite the Rivercrest loss. Marion beat Wynne for the first time ever when quarterback Joey Ford threw a late touchdown pass to Reggie Bolton for the only score in a 7-0 decision. Marion downed Brinkley in a tight game to finish as league runner-up and make the playoffs for the second time ever. A 22-0 loss in the first round of the playoffs to White Hall didn't diminish Marion's morale as the Pats saw their underclassmen mature during the fall. “We improved every, single week back in '83,” said Cook. “Back then, you could practice as long as you wanted to, and we were out there until after dark on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The kids bought in and were never scared of hard work, and that's why we were successful.” Marion returned starters at all the right spots in 1984, and even though Ford graduated following a prolific '83 season, MHS coaches were excited about rising junior QB Brett Phipps. “We thought we were in a good spot coming into '84,” explained Cook. “We had nine seniors who all played, and our juniors were looking pretty good. We were optimistic about our team, for sure.” But a beefed-up non-conference schedule tried to sink the Pats in 1984. The Pats opened their campaign at Newport, absorbing a 26-7 defeat. Class AA powerhouse and Crittenden County rival Earle downed the Pats 19-12 in Week 2, and all the Bulldogs did was finish 12-1 as Class AA runner-up behind all-world running back Dennis Forrest. Marion finally got some relief when the Pats outmanned Hughes 32-6 and rallied past Caruthersville, Missouri 15-14 in Week 4. That set the table for the conference opener, and for all of the good things Cook and his staff had accomplished in a year and a half, winning for the first time at Wynne looked to be a tall task. Add in the fact that Wynne would surely remember the devastating way that Marion won the season before, and this 80-mile round-trip voyage had all the makings of a revenge game for the Yellowjackets. For most of the game, that proved true. Wynne led Marion 12-7 late in the contest, and the Pats had the ball with around a minute remaining in regulation. Cook called for a screen pass to tailback Greg Pearcy, who was hit for a loss to set up third down. Following a timeout, Cook called the same screen pass, this time to leading rusher Kenny Graham and “Wynne never ran anybody out there to Kenny,” said the coach. “He caught it easily and had all kinds of blockers in front.” Wynne tackled Graham at the 1-yard line, but the halfback finished the drive on the next snap, his touchdown boosting Marion to a 14-12 victory that still resonates with Marion fans today. A 13-2 non-conference victory over Marvell set the stage for another big conference showdown in Week 7 against Osceola. The Patriot defense allowed the Seminoles to infiltrate Marion territory just once, as linebackers Ronnie Whitaker and Mike Cooney set the tone. On a key play in the second half, Osceola's quarterback ran the option, but Whitaker read it perfectly and knocked the Seminole signal-caller “at least 5 yards in the air,” said Cook. “I'm telling you, Mike hit him at the 50 and he landed on the 45. The fans didn't calm down for three or four plays afterward.” “Coach (Lutian) Murphy and Coach (Roger) Fortner always seemed to have guys in the right spots,” said Phipps. “They were great at predicting what the other teams were going to do.” Whitaker's hit helped the Pats lock down a 7-3 victory over Osceola, Marion's fifth consecutive victory. Marion put that winning streak on the line the following when the Pats played Rivercrest in the de facto conference title game with a pair of undefeated 3AAA teams. Rivercrest had to escape scrappy Marion the previous fall, which was a mild surprise because “our senior high kids at that time had always gotten drilled by them,” said Cook. “They were an excellent program, so that was a challenge on its own, but we just hadn't had much success against them at any level.” However, this big game would take place at Brunetti Field in front of the Marion faithful. Brothers ran that season for more than 1,500 yards and 23 touchdowns for the Colts, but he found the sledding much tougher this week at Marion as the big shootout moved to the fourth quarter with Rivercrest ahead 7-6. While the Rivercrest offense struggled against the stifling Marion defense, Marion's offense got a boost in the fourth quarter, twice penetrating Rivercrest territory, including on Marion's final drive, which featured a pair of fourth-down conversions. In fact, Marion earned a first-and-goal situation with less than two minutes on the clock as Cook and the staff looked to set up a potential go-ahead field goal. Marion center Todd Overall was also the Patriot place-kicker, and he'd had a good season leading up to the Rivercrest contest. Overall, who was a straight-on kicker, exited the game before third and goal to put his kicking shoe on. However, the snake-bitten Patriots lost the snap on the ensuing play, and when the Colts recovered, Rivercrest celebrated an unlikely victory that would surely catapult the visitors to an outright league title. Or would it? As Marion closed out its schedule with a 26-0 non-conference victory over McCrory and capped its league schedule with a 13-2 win over Brinkley, Rivercrest absorbed a conference loss down the stretch. As unlikely as it seemed three weeks prior, Marion and Rivercrest would share the league crown, with the Pats settling for the No. 2 playoff seed. In the opening round of the playoffs, Marion would travel to Little Rock to do battle with Little Rock Fair, one of the newer school districts in Arkansas at that time. The War Eagles earned the 5AAA-South title that season with a sterling 9-0 record, and 5-0 in league action. Adding to the intrigue of Marion's second straight playoff appearance, and third in five seasons, the contest would be played during a massive storm, which included tornadic activity. “A tornado literally touched down a few miles away from the stadium about 15 minutes before kickoff,” said Cook. “We passed it a lot in those days, more than most of the teams we played, and we could never get it going. I'm not lying to you, from our sideline, you couldn't see their sideline, the press box, or any of it. So it was really challenging.” “The refs had to hold the ball down in between plays so it wouldn't float off,” said Phipps. “Every other game in the Little Rock area was called off that night, we but played.” Even with the driving storm, the scariest thing on the field that night was Fair defensive end Terry Crossley, who went on to a distinguished career at Arkansas State University. “We just couldn't block him,” admitted Cook. “We thought we had a good plan, and it didn't matter against him. He gave us fits all night.” Marion ended its season at 7-4 with a share of the first league title in school history. Phipps paced Marion that season in passing to earn all-conference honors, while Graham paced the Pats in rushing to earn an all-league nod, as well. Jon Moore, Mike Hardin, Scott Upton, and Whitaker also wound up on the all-conference list. Cook's Patriots didn't make the playoffs again until 1989 when Marion surprised a lot of the state by barnstorming to an 8-2 regular-season record, and winning the first playoff game in school history, a 10-7 conquest at heavily favored Stuttgart. Bill Cook exited Marion following the 1996 season as the school's all-time wins leader with 56 victories over 13 years, and it would take the Patriots 22 years to earn another league crown. 2006 Mark Uhiren cut his coaching teeth under legendary Arkansas high school coach Don Campbell at Wynne. Uhiren accepted his first head coaching job in 1995 at Hoxie before departing for Lonoke the following season. At Lonoke, Uhiren's Jackrabbits went 23-10 in three years, including a 10-1 mark in 2000. The Carlisle native inherited a Marion program in 2002 that had won just three games the two seasons before he arrived and entered his first fall on a nine-game losing streak. Marion edged closer to the playoffs in each of Uhiren's first three seasons, missing the dance in 2004 when Paragould beat the Pats on homecoming to earn the head-to-head tiebreaker. The 5A East in those days could easily lay claim as the state's top conference. Batesville was a perennial juggernaut, winning the school's first state title in 2003. In 2004, Wynne proved to be the top dog in the state, finishing 12-2 after toppling Greenwood 28-26 in the state final. The tide turned in 2005 when Marion started 4-0, including convincing victories at Mountain Home and Newport, as well as a mercy-rule conquest of old 3AAA rival Rivercrest at home. A pair of midseason losses at Beebe and at home against Batesville slowed the Pats' ascension, but a Week 9 double-overtime victory over Wynne at home catapulted Marion back into the playoffs for the first time since 1992, and the Pats would host a postseason game for the first time ever. “After the Wynne game we had a lot of confidence, especially in our running backs (senior Robert Dupree and junior Darcel Johnson, who each earned all-state honors in 2005),” said Justin Counce, the quarterback of the 2006 Patriots. “Darcel ran the ball like Marshawn Lynch. He was just unstoppable.” Marion overwhelmed Crossett in the playoffs' opening round before embarking on the nearly 600-mile round trip voyage to outright AAAA-West champion Greenwood for the quarterfinals. It was a clash of styles as pass-happy Greenwood made its yards through the air, while ground-and-pound Marion ran it more, but both methods proved effective. In the end, Greenwood outscored Marion 44-34 before winning a one-point thriller at Wynne in the semifinals and then rallying past Morrilton for the Class AAAA state title. “Greenwood was a buzz-saw that year,” explained Counce. “Walking off the field that night, I felt accomplished. They were the best team in the state that year, and we hung with them.” The 2005 Patriots matched the school record of nine wins, and perhaps most importantly, Marion returned much of its talent for 2006. Fourteen starters returned that next fall, including Johnson, who led the entire state in 2005 with 2,063 rushing yards. The halfback battered mighty Greenwood with 283 yards and five scores in the quarterfinals. Bubba Cooper would prove to be a worthy successor to Dupree in the backfield. Perhaps most importantly, Marion returned four starters, Matt Presley, Dustin Cook, Cannon Taylor, and Jeremy Parker, up front. Maybe the most significant returner though would be rising senior Jerry Franklin, who dabbled some on offense in his career but was a dominant defender. “During the Greenwood game, I watched Jerry come into his own,” explained Counce. “He was a weapon on offense before then, but he was the best defensive player on the field that night.” Presley and Cook were standout ends for the defense, while junior Justin Blackwood and senior newcomer Willie Coleman showed well as linebackers. The special teams were also stout with junior kicker Jerry Patton, who proved as a sophomore to be a cold-blooded assassin. Patton kicked the game-tying field goal late in regulation against Wynne in 2005 and won it in double overtime on a frigid night. The 2006 Pats were also close, having grown up playing together, and Uhiren's staff believed in building that camaraderie. “The seniors and juniors on that team treated each other as a family,” explained Presley. “Our coaches preached a family atmosphere always. From two a days to the end of our senior year we all stuck together and did everything with each other. That was a really special group of guys.” As well as 2005 had ended for Marion, there was a healthy amount of skepticism entering 2006. The Marion School District had grown so much over the previous 15 years that the Patriots were now a member of Class 6A, the second-largest classification in Arkansas for athletics, and Marion would compete as the smallest school in that pool of 16 teams. “We were going against teams with more players, better facilities, bigger stadiums, and better players,” admitted Presley. “But we had a bunch of dawgs on that team and we pushed each other to be the best we could be.” The Pats opened the season with a one-point victory at Wynne, starting a non-conference series that remains active to this day. Marion absorbed its worst loss of 2006 Week 2 when it traveled to play eventual Class 7A state runner-up Rogers in a 42-12 defeat. Marion outpaced Little Rock Mills 36-12 in Week 3 to enter 6A East play with momentum. Marion cruised past Searcy 35-21 in Week 4 on the road to open league play 1-0, but all anyone could think about was Week 5, and the game that was decades in the making. West Memphis and Marion met three times in non-conference games spanning the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the time, West Memphis competed in Class AAAAA, the state's largest classification, and a football game with Marion was rarely considered. Until 2006, when West Memphis dropped to Class 6A as Marion rose to that level, setting up a tasty game that even Hollywood couldn't have scripted. “All year we prepared for that game and the intensity that we would need to win,” said Presley. “For so many of us, we grew up playing football at the Boys Club or MYSA and there would always be trash talk about who was better growing up. Finally, we had a chance to prove who was the best.” The spectacle of Marion and West Memphis didn't stop with the players. The West Memphis School District prepared for a record crowd on September 29, 2006, and it's believed to this day that almost 8,000 people were inside Hamilton-Shultz Field for the first conference contest. “We showed up (to the game) and immediately upon getting off the bus, seeing our side of the stadium was filled with our family and friends, who all season were sensational fans,” said Presley. “All the television coverage and news outlets, we realized how big this was to not only us but also to them. It was the closest to a college atmosphere in Arkansas high school football.” While Presley and his troops were prepared for the big stage, Marion's backfield was depleted for the West Memphis game with Johnson limited with an injury. The Pats would need someone to step up. Franklin put on his Superman cape in the second quarter with Marion trailing 20-3. Senior QB Austin Rawls connected with Franklin for a long touchdown pass to get the visitors within 20-10 before Franklin stepped in front of an interception and returned it for a touchdown just a few plays later and suddenly the game was back on at 20-17. West Memphis and Marion swapped scores, and the Pats were driving late into West Memphis territory. Facing a fourth down, Uhiren opted to go for it rather than tabbing Patton to attempt a long game-tying field goal. West Memphis stuffed the Marion attempt and ran out the clock for a 28-25 victory. The West Memphis hangover plagued Marion the following week as the Pats slugged past Forrest City in a 17-0 home victory. However, a road trip to 1-5 Mountain Home was sure to cure what ailed the fighting Pats. The Bombers started 0-4 and were coming off a devastating three-point loss to Jonesboro. Marion crushed Mountain Home the previous year, so this trip to Baxter County would be a mere formality. Right? Wrong. In a high-octane pinball game, Mountain Home scored last to earn a 39-34 victory over Marion that put the Pats' playoff prospects in peril with a pair of league losses. Forget competing for a conference championship, Marion may have to win out just to make the playoffs at this rate. Marion outlasted Sylvan Hills 28-6 the following week before traveling to play another regional rival for the first time ever, this one at Jonesboro on a chilly, late October evening. The game moved along knotted at 7 all night until Marion's final drive penetrated the Jonesboro red zone, setting the table for Patton. The junior's 22-yarder with seven seconds remaining gave Marion a second straight playoff appearance. Also getting a shot in the arm was Marion's hope for a league crown. A number of scenarios went the Pats' way following the Mountain Home loss, including league-leading West Memphis losing a pair of close games (17-7 against Mountain Home and 14-10 at Jacksonville). Against all odds, Marion's Week 10 game at Jacksonville would be for a share of the conference title. Another thriller came down to the wire, but Marion prevailed in the fourth quarter, taking down a 23-20 victory, as West Memphis and Mountain Home also won to force a rare four-way tie for the league crown. Every 6A East playoff entrant would be a conference co-champion. So Marion rallied to win its last three games in succession to earn the No. 3 playoff seed, so the cup of respect around the state runneth over, right? Well, not exactly. Hootens.com installed Lake Hamilton, Marion's first-round playoff opponent, as a 14-point favorite. No way Marion could compete with a team that was two years away from winning a state championship and had just finished as conference runner-up in what many perceived as the far superior 6A South, right? Wrong. Marion did what it pleased on that November evening, racking up a 42-14 mercy-rule victory in Pearcy to advance to the semifinals for the first time ever. “We traveled across the state and held the best offense in Arkansas to 14 points and watched sophomores play the fourth quarter,” marveled Presley. Marion was one step away from playing for a state championship in the state's second-largest classification, and all that stood in its way was a return trip to Mountain Home to battle the Bombers. But it wasn't meant to be. Mountain Home limited Marion to a season-low seven points in a 10-point defeat that eliminated the Pats and boosted the Bombers to the final. Marion's roller-coaster season was over. “We played our hearts out, but we just couldn't get any momentum (at Mountain Home),” said Presley. “We had all the talent in the world, but we beat ourselves with small mistakes. I think we all cried after because we knew as a team that year was our best chance at winning a state championship. I think a couple of hours passed by on the bus before anyone said anything.” Franklin, Johnson, Rawls, and Jeremy Parker earned all-state honors in 2006, while Presley and Taylor earned all-conference nods. Coleman died suddenly the following year, meaning that the last time a lot of the 2006 Patriots were together was that night in Mountain Home. “Willie was a great man who we lost too soon,” added Presley. Franklin would go on to star at the University of Arkansas, leading the Razorbacks in tackles for four consecutive seasons before enjoying a number of stops in the NFL. Uhiren departed Marion following the 2013 season, exiting as the school's all-time coaching victories leader with 64.