By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

VERSAILLES — The Versailles football team couldn’t pull off the upset at home. In the Ohio monsoon, Marion Local kept their win streak alive with a 48-0 win on Sept. 27.

Head coach Ryan Jones said the team had a rough start to the game and couldn’t bounce back from it. In short, it was just a bad loss for the Tigers.

“There’s no silver lining in a game like that. It’s unacceptable. We didn’t play well offensively, defensively or special teams. That’s not the standard that we want. We got to get better as coaches, get better as players. I don’t question the effort. But, effort only gets you so far. We got to have better technique and better focus,” Jones said.

After a bad punt from Versailles gave the Flyers a short field, Marion Local scored on two plays. Senior Ethan Heitkamp scored on a one yard run to go up 7-0. Heitkamp scored on another one-yard run on the next possession as Marion Local took an early 13-0 lead.

Versailles spent most of the first quarter in their own territory after not being able to put a drive together. The Flyers defense have only allowed four points a game so far this season.

As the rain lighten up, the Flyers passing attack got going. Senior Justin Knouff found senior Victor Hoelscher for two passing touchdowns in the second quarter, one for 15 yards and one for 35 yards.

Knouff broke off an 87-yard touchdown run and Heitkamp scored on another one-yard run in the second quarter. The Flyers went into halftime up 41-0.

Jones said the team didn’t have the right focus when adversity hit early. That allowed Marion Local to keep the momentum from the first quarter for the whole game.

The Versailles offense showed some signs of life in the second half. Sophomore Landyn Knapke and senior Ross Francis made some big plays to move the ball. They couldn’t put enough together for a scoring drive.

Knouff found senior Andrew Pohlman for a 16-yard touchdown pass to give Marion Local their 48-0 lead with 8:21 left in the third quarter.

From there, the Tigers were able to keep the Flyers off the scoreboard. But, the offense continued to struggle getting positive plays on first down. They played in second, third and longs for most of the game.

Versailles is now 5-1 on the season with a 3-1 MAC record. They will be back at H.B Hole field as they host Anna on Oct. 4 starting at 7 p.m.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].