Carrollton rallies past Marlington 24-7; Dukes teams see mixed results across sports

Marlington may have scored first, but Carrollton had the last laugh as the host Warriors dispatched the Dukes 24-7 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference opener Sept. 26.

Following a scoreless first quarter, Malcum Salyers hauled in a 29-yard scoring strike from Tyler Walder to give Marlington the early lead. After a Talon Cyders kick, the Dukes led 7-0. Carrollton responded, however, as Isaac Husted connected with Warriors quarterback Hunter Allison on a 1-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.

Then Levi Kiko took over. Carrollton’s lead back rushed for 221 yards on 27 carries, averaging 8.2 yards per rush. Kiko’s 38-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and 20-yard score in the fourth sandwiched a Carrollton field goal as the Warriors scored 24 unanswered points.

Marlington was outgained 400-224 in total yardage by Carrollton, which also held a 20-12 advantage in first downs. Standout receiver Cameron Evanich was held to one catch for 6 yards and one rushing attempt for minus-1 yard.

Salyers was the leading receiver for the Dukes (3-3, 0-1), catching five passes for 66 yards. Caden Dine ran for 97 yards on 16 carries, while Walder was 11-of-26 for 101 yards with two interceptions. Allison finished 18-of-24 passing for 155 yards for Carrollton (3-3, 1-0).

Cross country

Irelyn Johnson put on quite a show at the Stark County Cross Country Championship, hosted by GlenOak High School. The junior won the race with a time of 18:43.29 in a field of 124 runners from 19 schools.

Jackson won the girls team title with 60 points, while Minerva was the boys’ overall champion with 68 points.

The Lady Dukes placed fourth overall and second among Division III and IV schools. Johnson was joined by sophomore Jordynn Martz in 19th, junior Brynne Reese in 21st, junior Brin Boyce in 29th and freshman Olivia Bosca in 41st.

On the boys’ side, the Dukes finished 10th overall and seventh in the Division I and II category. Sophomore Gabe Minor led Marlington in 29th with a time of 17:22.64. Freshman Brady Griggs placed 45th, sophomore Casey Minor was 65th, freshman Andrew Bargerstock finished 97th and junior Nolan Henry was 98th.

Volleyball

The Lady Dukes extended their winning streak to 14 matches with three more victories last week.

On Sept. 22, Marlington hosted Salem in an EBC matchup and won 3-0 (25-23, 25-11, 25-18). Danica Sarchione recorded 21 kills, Chloe Evanich served for 11 points with three aces, Giana Bogunovich tallied 12 digs and Cali Young dished out 38 assists.

Two days later, Marlington traveled to New Philadelphia for a nonconference match and won 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-15, 25-18). Sarchione finished with 24 kills, Amiiah served for 20 points, and Bogunovich added five aces and 14 digs. Young again led in assists with 36.

On Sept. 25, the Dukes traveled to Alliance for an EBC contest and earned a 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-14, 25-12). Sarchione had 15 kills, Reese Hagan served for 10 points with six aces, and Young delivered 28 assists. Marlington improved to 15-2 overall and 10-0 in the EBC.

Boys soccer

Marlington stayed unbeaten since Sept. 4 with two more victories.

On Sept. 23, the Dukes visited Salem for an EBC match, building a 3-0 halftime lead before securing a 4-0 shutout.

On Sept. 25, Marlington (10-1-3, 4-0) hosted Youngstown Ursuline in a nonconference game, scoring six first-half goals in a 9-0 rout.

Girls soccer

The Lady Dukes dropped two matches.

On Sept. 22, they fell 5-0 at Norton in a nonconference contest. On Sept. 24, Marlington hosted Salem in an EBC game and battled before the Quakers (9-2-3, 3-0-1) scored the only goal of the second half for a 1-0 win.

Details for Marlington (3-7-2, 0-3-1) were not made available.