Marion County preps for second-round showdown with Mount Zion

After surviving the first round of the playoffs with a one-point victory, the Marion County Eagles hit the road in search of extending their season.

The Eagles got quite a scare against Telfair County, barely fending off a late Trojans run thanks to a blocked extra point. The 28-27 win — Marion’s third one-point victory in 2017 — propels the Eagles to a second-round matchup at Mount Zion in Carrollton.

Marion County head coach Chris Kirksey said the team’s close victories in the regular season set the Eagles up for important games like last week’s nail-biter.

“Our kids played very hard,” Kirksey said. “I think we learned that early in the season because we really had some close games with Schley County and Chattahoochee County. We also had a close one with Dooly County. I think it certainly helps their confidence, but I think it shows them if they just play hard for 48 minutes it gives them a chance to win.”

Winning is all that matters at this point, and the Eagles will certainly be happy to do that against an 8-2 Mount Zion team that is fresh off a bye week.

Kirksey explained Mount Zion runs a Wing-T offense, which is built on patience and waiting for the defense to make mistakes. That can be extremely dangerous given the talent on the Mount Zion offense, which includes talent at quarterback and running back.

For Kirksey, one of the keys for Marion County is limiting turnovers. Kirksey said Marion County turned the ball over twice in its second meeting with Schley County, a 35-27 loss on Nov. 3. The Trojans’ near-comeback last week was also made possible thanks to a couple of Marion turnovers.

Kirksey’s Eagles have been put the test in tight games throughout the season, and it’s highly possible they face that same situation Friday night.

“We’ve got to make some stops defensively and give our offense the ball,” Kirksey said. “Our offense has done a great job of scoring points this year, and we’ve got some weapons on offense. We just feel like defensively if we can make stops, we can come out on top.

“That’s what we’ve been able to do in this close ballgames — in critical times, we’ve made a stop when we needed one.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 12:32 PM with the headline "Marion County preps for second-round showdown with Mount Zion."