SHERWOOD --- Marion junior tight end Cam Garrett collected a pass near midfield and immediately made a Sylvan Hills tackler miss as Garrett looked to turn a first down into a bigger play. Around the Bear 30-yard line, Garrett, who's started all 20 varsity games over the past two seasons, cut back toward the sideline to avoid another tackle and outran the Sylvan safety to glory. Garrett's first varsity touchdown had given his Patriots a 55-22 lead on the second play of the fourth quarter. The play was a microcosm of Marion's latest visit to Bill Blackwood Field in Sherwood. Garrett, who's been an integral part of the Patriots' success the past two seasons, finally visited the end zone, giving Marion the requisite breathing room to finally put away the pesky Bears. Marion's 61-22 victory at Sylvan Hills ensured that the 2023 Patriots would continue their assault on the school's history book. The road victory gave Marion its best start ever at 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the 6A East. The Pats can establish the school record for the most prosperous regular season ever with a victory this Friday night over Little Rock Catholic inside Southern Bancorp Stadium. It was also the fifth time that Marion has finished a victory out this fall under the sportsmanship rule, surpassing the 2011 Patriots who rolled up four victories under the sportsmanship rule. “I thought we finally started taking it seriously when they took the lead,” said Marion coach Lance Clark. “I give the Bears a lot of credit. They had a good plan and played hard. But we finally realized what was going on from that point and played fairly well.” Marion outgained Sylvan Hills 531-234 in the victory, and the Patriots rushed by 404 yards on the road, led by junior tailback Jalen Smith, who carried 17 times for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Senior quarterback Ashton Gray rushed for 149 yards and six TDs, and he completed eight of 10 passes for 127 yards and another score. Garrett collected two passes for 79 yards, including his 69-yard scoring reception. Junior receiver Mitrell Lewis caught four balls for 38 yards, and junior Christian Young snagged two passes for 10 yards. The Marion defense limited Sylvan Hills to just two of 13 on third downs, and the Patriot stop troops recorded a season-high four sacks, getting one apiece from senior linebackers Javen Griffin and Dewayne Williams, senior defensive lineman Cam Brown, and junior Makhi Guyton. Patriot junior cornerback Taheem Frost gave the visitors a 27-16 lead late in the second period when he intercepted a Tyler Hampton pass and returned it 42 yards for a score. “Huge play by the defense picking us up and shifting the game,” said Clark. “We know he needed that and our team needed that in the moment.” Sylvan Hills (0-9, 0-8) started the scoring with a 34-yard field goal by Alex Bohlman, but Gray pushed the Pats ahead 13-6 with TD runs of 14 and 3 yards. The Bears rallied when Joseph Thompson returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a TD but a blocked extra point kept Marion ahead 13-9. Sylvan Hills took its last lead on a TD pass from Hampton to Rainey, but Marion took the lead for good when Gray bowled in for a 1-yard TD run for a 20-16 lead, setting up Frost’s interception return two drives later. Gray’s 20-yard TD rush gave Marion a 34-16 lead at the break. But the Bears marched 65 yards in 9 plays with the first possession of the second half, culminating with a 1-yard TD run by Zairean Woodard got the hosts within 34-22. A 45-yard Smith rush set up a 5-yard Gray run, and Smith darted 69 yards on first down to give Marion a 47-22 lead after three quarters. Gray found junior tight end Cam Garrett for a 69-yard score, the first TD of Garrett’s career, for a 53-22 lead and Gray capped the scoring with a 30-yard scoring sprint with 9:45 left in the game. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion concludes its 2023 regular season at home Friday night when the Patriots host Little Rock Catholic. Senior Night festivities begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by kickoff at 7 p.m. The Little Rock Catholic contest will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network YouTube channel. FUN FALL Marion's eight victories in 2023 put this team in rare territory. The Patriots have now won eight games or more eight times in school history. MHS has only won nine games twice in school history, in 1989 and 2005. BYE BYE BYE Marion will enjoy a first-round playoff bye this season for the first time since 2018 when the Patriots finished 8-3. Marion's only previous first-round bye came in 2010, when the Patriots finished as conference runners-up and hosted Lake Hamilton for the quarterfinals. CLARK MOVING UP Marion head coach Lance Clark's Patriots have won 23 games in his three seasons at the helm, good for third all-time in school history. Marion has averaged almost eight games a year since he took over in time for the 2021 season. OUTSIDE SHOT Marion's victory at Sylvan Hills coupled with Little Rock Catholic's home loss to El Dorado ensued that Marion will be the No. 2 seed from the 6A East in this year's playoffs. The Pats have a slight chance to garner a share of the 6A East conference title, but it would require Marion to beat LR Catholic this week at home, and Sheridan to beat 6A East champion Benton. Even if that were to happen, Benton would be the top seed from the 6A East by virtue of it holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over Marion. PLAYOFF PEEK No matter what happens this week, Marion will be the No. 2 playoff seed from the 6A East in this year's postseason. The Patriots will host the winner of the El Dorado-Pulaski Academy game at Southern Bancorp Stadium on Friday, November 10. Pulaski Academy is the defending Class 6A state champion, but the Bruins will finish as the No. 3 seed from the 6A West this season. The last time Marion played the defending state champion was 2022, when the Pats beat El Dorado for the first time in school history 27-23 in that year's conference opener. Marion toppled El Dorado 50-13 earlier this season on the road. 6A EAST RESULTS FROM 10/27 Marion 61, Sylvan Hills 22 Benton 56, W. Memphis 31 El Dorado 22, LR Catholic 21 Sheridan 16, Greene Co. Tech 14 Searcy 56, Jacksonville 27 6A EAST STANDINGS ON 10/30/23 Benton 8-0^* Marion 7-1^* W. Memphis 6-2* LR Catholic 5-3*$ Searcy 5-3*$ El Dorado 4-4* Sheridan 3-5 Jacksonville 2-6 Greene Co. Tech 0-8 Sylvan Hills 0-8 *clinched playoff berth ^clinched first-round bye $LR Catholic holds head-to-head tiebreaker over Searcy WEEK 10 6A EAST GAMES LR Catholic at Marion Sheridan at Benton Jacksonville at El Dorado Sylvan Hills at Greene Co. Tech W. Memphis at Searcy