Marlington football shut out by Minerva; Dukes volleyball streak hits 20 wins

It was bound to happen to an Eastern Buckeye Conference team. That doesn’t mean you want to be that team.

Marlington hosted Minerva Oct. 10 and the much-improved Lions came to town in search of their first conference win since 2019, when they defeated West Branch 30-20. The slump is over as Minerva outlasted the Dukes 7-0 to keep Marlington winless in the EBC.

The last time the Dukes lost to Minerva, by the way? You’d have to go back to 2011, when the Lions ran the table in the now-defunct Northeast Buckeye Conference and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs.

The game’s lone touchdown occurred when Minerva running back Skyler Lab forced his way into the end zone from two yards out with 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The rest of the game was a defensive struggle with two teams scrapping it out for field position.

Not that Marlington didn’t have any chances, however. In the second quarter, the Dukes were looking at a first-and-goal from Minerva’s 8-yard line, before a series of penalties pushed them back to the 20, where they ended up turning the ball over on downs.

Then, in the fourth quarter and the Dukes pinned deep in their own territory, Blaize Horn took a handoff from Tyler Walder and broke free, racing 73 yards down the right sideline to the Minerva 25. Yet, that promising drive petered out at the 12-yard line after an incomplete pass on fourth down.

Minerva (5-3, 1-2) held a 19-9 advantage in first downs, and also outgained the Dukes (3-5, 0-3) 315-224. Walder threw for 76 yards on 9-of-16 passing. Cole Jones was Walder’s primary target with five receptions for 46 yards. Meanwhile, Marlington picked up 148 yards rushing on 18 carries with Horn gaining 77 on six touches, while Caden Dine gained 45 on eight attempts. Dine also had a busy day on defense, leading the Dukes with 13 tackles.

Cross Country

Minerva had the numbers, but Marlington had Irelyn Johnson.

The Lions claimed the girls’ team title at the EBC Cross-Country Championship, hosted Oct. 11 by Marlington. Taking spots two through five, Minerva won with 32 points, defeating the runner-up Lady Dukes by 10.

It was Johnson who kept Minerva from the top spot as her time of 18:34.0 was an impressive 49 seconds ahead of the Lions’ Tateum Richard. Sophomore Jordynn Martz (20:27.4) and junior Brin Boyce (20:47.4) placed seventh and ninth, respectively. Freshman Bella Ritchie (21:13.5) and junior Brynne Reese (21:17.7) rounded out the scoring for Marlington, claiming the 12th and 13th spots.

For the boys, Minerva also won that title with 26 points, while Salem (37) was second, and the Dukes – who tied Carrollton with 105 points – were awarded third on a tiebreaker.

Freshman Brady Griggs (17:21.3) was the lone Marlington runner to place in the top 10. Fellow freshman Andrew Bargerstock (18:33.7) finished 20th, while sophomore Gabe Minor (18:35.5) was 21st. Junior Nolan Henry (19:08.5) placed 30th, and sophomore Casey Minor (19:27.9) capped the scoring in 34th place.

Volleyball

Marlington ran its winning streak to 19 as the Lady Dukes wrapped up the regular season with a busy last week, playing three matches.

First on the docket was an Oct. 8 visit to GlenOak to wrap up Federal League play. Marlington capped off a perfect 10-0 EBC regular season with a 3-0 (25-15, 27-25, 25-20) win over the Golden Eagles.

Danica Sarchione and Giana Bogunovich lead the Dukes with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while Chloe Evanich served for 14 points and Bogunovich logged six aces. Sarchione also added 13 digs while Cali Young dished out 25 assists

The Dukes then hosted Massillon Washington the following day and breezed to another 3-0 shutout (25-10, 25-6, 25-13). Sarchione led Marlington with eight kills and three blocks while also adding 17 points serving – including six aces. Young, meanwhile, recorded 12 assists and six digs.

Last but not least was a tough nonconference match against visiting Norton (20-3) Oct. 11, jumping out to a 2-0 lead before weathering the Panthers’ comeback attempt in a 3-2 win (28-26, 25-19, 21-25, 21-25, 15-13). Sarchione was on fire with a whopping 24 kills and 17 service points. Amiiah Sickles was huge defensively with 26 digs, and Young recorded 34 assists for the Dukes (20-2).

Girls Soccer

The Lady Dukes will travel to Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown for a Div. III Northeast 5 District Sectional final match, but before that, they needed to complete their regular season games as they traveled to Canton Central Catholic Oct. 6 and Warren Howland Oct. 8 for two nonconference matches.

Shelby Odey scored Marlington’s only goal as the Dukes fell to the Crusaders 3-1. Makenna Metz had a busy day manning the net as she came up with 12 saves in the loss.

Next, Marlington headed to Howland, and fought the Tigers to a 0-0 tie at the end of the first half, Howland (10-4-3) got it together, however, and scored three times following the break for a 3-0 shutout. Metz recorded 15 saves for the Dukes (5-10-2).