Hold that obituary on the Marion football team's playoff life. The rebuilt Indians roared back into playoff contention Friday night with a must-win, 41-0, victory over a stuck-in-the-mud Benton Community team at Thomas Park.

Looking like a completely different team from the lethargic, mistake-prone crew of the past two weeks, the Indians got back on track with a emphatic home  blowout win. From the opening kickoff to the running clock pronouncement, this was Marion (3-3, 2-1 Class 3A District 6) at its near best. And as a result, the Indians are back in play big time for a playoff berth.

Marion's retracking began on the offensive line.

“We played with passion tonight,” Indians coach Tony Perkins said. “We played a complete football game. The line started that.”

Opening up SUV-sized holes for its running game, the Marion line cleared the way for Indians backs to  jaunt for 234 yards and completely out of sight of the Bobcats.

“They blew open some big holes for our backs,” Perkins saiod.

John Carstensen followed the big gaps to touchdown runs of 3 and 15 yards and an elusive Logan Fuller traveled 76 yards on just eight carries to headline an extremely balanced Marion running game.

Bruising sophomore Kory Walsh broke out for 57 yards and a score in a head-turning performance that woke up the entire Indians backfield.

“This is the best I've ever seen John Carstensen run,” Perkins said. “I think the jolt of a sophomore running back stepping up energized all the running backs. They saw a sophomore and said, 'I've got to step up if I want to keep my position.'”

The 50-yard line was about as good as offensive position the baffled Benton offense could find against Marion. The Indians' 'D' grounded the Bobcats (2-4, 2-2 Class 3A District 6) to a mere three first downs, 51 yards rushing and 32 yards through the air.

Up 7-0 after one quarter, Marion blew the game open with a 21-point second quarter and went running clock on Benton on Walsh's 3-yard third-quarter run.

Quarterback Trevor Hardman turned in one of his best performances of the fall, hitting on 11 of 15 passes for 148 yards and a 27-yard scoring connection with Fuller.

Austin Brown's 24-yard fourth-quarter score put the exclamation point on Marion's wakeup call.

Perkins called Marion's effort the result of passion mixing with execution.

“The one thing we stressed as a coaching staff this week is enjoy this opportunity,” Perkins said. “You only get so many opportunities to play football. Enjoy this  chance, make the most of it and play with passion.”

MARION 41, BENTON 0

Benton     0   0   0   0  -   0
Marion      7  21   7   6  - 41

M – John Carstensen 3 run (Ben Kroemer kick)
M – Logan Fuller 3 run (Kroemer kick)
M – Fuller 27 pass from Trevor Hardman (Kroemer kick)
M – Carstensen 15 run (Kroemer kick)
M – Kory Walsh 3 run (Kroemer kick)
M – Austin Brown (kick failed)

MARION STATISTICAL LEADERS

RUSHING – Fuller 8-76, Walsh 11-57, Carstensen 9-54, Brown 1-24, Dontavious Young 3-8, Hardman 4-2.
PASSING – Hardman 11-15-148
RECEIVING – Fuller 5-66, Quinns Cannoy 5-62, D. Smith 1-20.