ARLINGTON — In anticipation of facing such a talented running attack, Arlington coach Greg Dailer implemented a special method of practice before playing Marysville-Pilchuck.
“We practice without a football and just try to tackle everybody,” he said.
And the strategy worked Oct. 2 against the Tomahawks’ multifaceted ground attack for the first quarter — but that’s about it as Marysville came away with a 42-13 victory.
That first quarter, however, Dailer loaded the box with eight players, hoping to fill the Marysville holes and keep all-world fullback Austin Denton in check. A 7-7 first quarter score showed the strategy was working, but a Marysville adjustment opened the floodgates.
“We didn’t execute very good and had some problems on defense,” Dailer said. “We’ve got to clean some of that up, but it looked good when we executed.”
After a Tomahawks’ score in the first, Eagles’ quarterback Andy Smith found wideout Conner Varnell in the endzone to tie the score. But that didn’t last long. Marysville scored 35 unanswered points as M-P coach Brandon Carson switched his attack from up the middle to in the flat and backs were able to get to the outside with disastrous results, scoring touchdowns of 45, 60 and 43 yards.
At halftime, Marysville owned a 28-7 advantage. The Tomahawks continued their assault, as Denton gained 109 of his 223 total rushing yards in the third quarter.
The loss drops Arlington to 1-4, but Dailer has reasons to be optimistic about the second half of the season.
“I think we have a favorable second-half schedule,” he said. “I’m excited to see our guys improve over these first five games and see what we can build on.”
More specifically, he noted some players who could make a difference in the second half.
“It was really nice to see Brandon (Pierce) make some solid catches in situations that we needed a big play,” Dailer said. “Also, we use three different quarterbacks, but I really liked what I saw out of McPherson, the sophomore. Late in the game, he really connected on some of his throws.”
The Eagles scored their second touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard pass from McPherson to Smith in the right side of the endzone.
Arlington travels to Monroe Oct 9.
