The Marion football team slapped together perhaps its finest effort of the fall last Friday night. As luck would have it, their county rivals were there to see it. Marion scored on six of its seven first-half possessions, while allowing only three first downs in the same stretch, for a 48-6 victory over West Memphis at Southern Bancorp Stadium. It was Marion's fourth victory in a row over West Memphis on the field, and the Patriots have outscored the Blue Devils by a combined 117-35 over that span. The Patriots got 102 rushing yards and four touchdowns from senior tailback Jalen Smith, and junior quarterback Zayden Walker fired a pair of TD passes to spark the Patriot offense. "I thought for a long time in the first half we did put it all together in every phase," said Marion coach Lance Clark. "We had some lapses here and there, but ultimately we did pull out of it and come away with a big win." Marion (5-1 overall, 3-0 6A East), which had never officially beaten West Memphis until 2021, when it forfeited the first victory in series history, won its third straight over the Blue Devils (0-6, 0-3) with a fast start. The Pats marched 50 yards in just four plays on their initial drive, taking a 6-0 lead on Smith's 41-yard TD jaunt just 45 seconds into the contest. Marion's advantage hit 12-0 on the host's next drive, as the Pats embarked on a 60-yard TD drive that took six plays, culminating when junior tailback Rico Ward covered the final five yards with his first TD sprint of the night. The Pats forced punts on the first three Blue Devil drives of the night, and Marion pushed its lead to 18-0 late in the first period when Smith scored from 13 yards out with 2:17 left in the initial frame, and that tally doubled as the score after 12 minutes. "I liked the offense getting out fast," said Clark. "We did some dumb stuff. We had some procedure penalties, and that did irk me, but we were able to overcome them, and that's what you like to see from the kids." It took 38 seconds into the second period for Marion to claim a 25-0 lead, doing so when Walker hit Smith on a screen pass and Smith turned it into points, running 30 yards for a score and a 25-0 Patriot advantage. The Pats again took advantage of a short field on their next drive, marching 59 yards in seven plays, going up 32-0 when Walker hit Jeremy Dent for a 33-yard TD toss with 6:16 left in the first half. Marion pushed ahead 35-0 when senior kicker Marselo Amaya booted a 29-yard field goal with 1:30 remaining in the second quarter. West Memphis dented the scoreboard with 18 seconds left in the first half when freshman QB Andrew Clay hit Jadeous East for a 20-yard TD toss and the Blue Devils hit halftime trailing just 35-6. Marion's Emanuel Key recovered a West Memphis fumble on the third play of the third quarter and the Pats cashed it in when Smith ran five yards for his final score of the night with 9:26 left in the third period, Marion was up 42-6 to trigger the Arkansas Sportsmanship Rule. Patriot sophomore QB Max Molloy capped the scoring at 48-6 when he hit Jamarius Jackson for a 34-yard TD toss late in the third period. Marion is 3-0 at home in 2024, and the Patriots have allowed just 20 points in victories over Harding Academy, Sylvan Hills, and West Memphis. "We have played fine so far this year at home, but we know we have to dig in the rest of the year," said Clark. "We have been handling business the way we expect to this first half, but we have to get even better down the stretch.” WHAT'S NEXT? Marion resumes its rivalry with Jonesboro on Friday night when the Patriots play at Cooksey-Johns Field. The game will kick off at 7 p.m., and you can watch for free at MarionPatriots.com, on the MPAN YouTube channel, or on the MPAN mobile app. MVPs Jalen Smith earned the Fred Leonard Hometown Showdown Offensive MVP for his production against West Memphis, while Ryan Blackwell earned the game's Defensive MVP. Smith rushed for 102 yards and three TDs and he caught three passes for 58 yards and another score, while Blackwell racked up five tackles, including three tackles for loss with two sacks. TO BE THE MAN.... Marion kept the Fred Leonard Hometown Showdown championship belt at home for the third year in a row. The belt debuted following Marion's 16-12 victory over West Memphis in 2022. The Pats kept the belt following their dramatic 20-14 victory last season at West Memphis. RANKINGS RUNDOWN Marion maintained its No. 4 statewide ranking in this week's edition of rankings in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and on Hootens.com. WHAT'S THE RUSH? Marion senior tailback Jalen Smith is only 77 yards away from breaking 2017 Marion grad Tom Young's all-time school rushing record. RIVALRY RENEWED Marion entered the 2021 football season a combined 0-23 against El Dorado and West Memphis, but the Patriots have gone 6-2 on the field against those teams over the past four seasons. AERIAL ATTACK Marion's QBs fired their first TD passes of the season against West Memphis, as Walker came up with a pair and Molloy completed his first scoring strike of his varsity career. Patriot passers have thrown six TD passes so far this fall, including two from Jalen Smith and one from Mitrell Lewis. 6A EAST RESULTS FROM 10/11 Marion 48, W. Memphis 6 LR Catholic 26, Jonesboro 21 Benton 72, Sheridan 25 El Dorado 52, Sylvan Hills 13 6A EAST STANDINGS ON 10/14 Marion 3-0 Benton 3-0 LR Catholic 3-0 El Dorado 1-2 Jonesboro 1-2 Sheridan 1-2 Sylvan Hills 0-6 W. Memphis 0-6 6A EAST GAMES ON 10/18 Marion at Jonesboro Sylvan Hills at W. Memphis El Dorado at Benton LR Catholic at Sheridan