Marion's spring football game on Monday night at Southern Bancorp Stadium had something for everyone. For someone passionate about defense, the game moved into the fourth quarter with the navy and red teams deadlocked at seven points apiece. Later on, senior safety Martaveon Banks scooped a fumble and returned it more than 80 yards for a defensive score. Senior linebacker Victor Turner tipped an interception to himself and forced a fumble that junior linebacker Carter Moore recovered. If you're a fan of offense, that side of the ball came alive in the fourth quarter as the scoring ramped up and the teams combined for 35 points. And if you live for drama, then the final two drives provided plenty. Playing for both teams, senior quarterback Ashton Gray ran 2 yards for a touchdown with 1:33 left in the final quarter before he connected with senior receiver Johnathan Guyton for a two-point conversion that gave the red team a 22-21 lead. But Gray left himself and the navy troops too much time as the signal-caller marched the blue-clad warriors across midfield, including a beautiful 40ish-yard pass to junior receiver Mitrell Lewis who laid out to get the navy inside the red 25-yard line to extend the final drive. Then, on the game's final play, Gray found junior tailback Jalen Smith streaking behind the red's secondary to vault the navy to a 27-22 victory in dramatic fashion. Smith scored all four touchdowns for the navy team to earn game MVP honors in front of an estimated crowd of almost 1,500 fans. “Ultimately we had a lot of guys step up and make plays and we had a bunch of dudes really compete,” said Marion coach Lance Clark. “Everyone played and we all got much-needed reps. As the spring went on, I can say that all of our guys got better, and that's what spring football is all about, so I'm proud of that.” The navy-and-red spring game format took full focus this season as Marion's football staff drafted the roster from each team, rather than the format most often seen in Arkansas where the first-team offense faces the first-team defense, and so on and so forth. Marion's quarterbacks and kickers played both ways, but every other position featured a mixed bag of starters, backups, and younger players. “It's really tricky splitting the team, which we did here for the last three or four practices of the spring,” said Clark. “One side had a little bit more polished offensive line, whereas the other had a little more in the secondary, but we made it a point to be as even and fair as possible. What I liked best about it tonight is we saw who's able to rise to the occasion when their number is called, and we had a lot of guys do that for us tonight.” Each team was able to produce one touchdown drive in the first half as the game hit halftime knotted at 7, but Banks pushed the red in front 14-7 with his scoop and score in the third period. The frantic fourth quarter saw a couple of fourth-down conversions, and touchdowns at the end of every drive except one. Gray, who's started 11 games so far in his varsity career, scored for the red on first-and-goal before sitting in the pocket and connecting with Guyton, who's produced an impressive spring, for the lead. Flipping to the navy team for the game's final drive, Gray unleashed a picture-perfect pass for Lewis, who had broken behind the coverage and laid out for a dramatic catch that gave the navy a first down and new life on the red side of the field. Two plays later, Gray rolled to his left as the stadium buzzer went off before lofting a pass to Smith, who caught it in stride for the game-winning score, which set off a raucous celebration on the Southern Bancorp Stadium turf. “We expect Jalen and Ashton to make those types of plays because they have played a lot of football,” said Clark. “It came down to who was going to make the big play, and they pulled it off.” Marion kicks off its 2023 football season with its benefit scrimmage against Maumelle at home on Friday, August 18 before the regular season opens at home against Wynne on Friday, August 25.