Marion shrugged off five weeks of frustration Friday night and secured a berth in the Class 3A playoffs in a 10-0 win over DeWitt Central to end the regular football season at Thomas Park.

The Indians (4-5, 3-3) had lost four of their last five games and appeared to be on the brink of missing the playoffs before Friday.

But a swarming Marion defense completely shut down DeWitt’s offense. The Indians limited the Sabers (4-5, 3-3) to just 86 yards rushing in 28 carries and pressured them into four turnovers with one fumble and three interceptions.

“Tonight we were the team I thought we could be,” said Marion Coach Tony Perkins.  “We ran to the ball all night and played as a unit.”

Logan Fuller accounted for two interceptions. The Marion defense forced DeWitt, a team that is usually a ground pounding unit, into uncharacteristically attempting 16 passes.

“They run a lot of crossing routs and we were prepared for them,” said Fuller.  “I’d say the balls just found me. Our run defense was amazing tonight. We just filled the holes.  It was exciting.”

Nick Kramer picked off a Jesse Brackey pass and returned it 45 yards to the Sabers' 10-yard line to set up a Ben Kroemer 25-yard field goal in the third quarter that gave the Indians a 10-0 lead.

“I was just staying with a back out of the backfield and spotted the ball real well, caught it, and ran as far as I could,” said Kramer.

Marion’s lone touchdown came at 3:51 in the first quarter when Kory Walsh took it in from four yards out.  Walsh rushed for 72 yards on 16 carries in the first half, but missed the second half due to injury.  Kramer carried 13 times in the second half and picked up 44 yards.

“We played them tough,” said Perkins.  “We played as a team and when someone was hurt, we filled in and everybody picked each other up.”

Marion will play West Delaware at Manchester in a first-round playoff game Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“I think tonight proved we would like to play a little longer," Perkins said. "We just aren't ready for our season to end.”

DeWitt Central also qualified for the playoffs and will travel to Decorah on Wednesday.

MARION 10, DEWITT CENTRAL 0

DWC       MAR
First downs            10               12
Rushes-yards        28-86          43-149
Passing yards         101              46
Comp-Att-Int       8-16-3         7-10-0
Fumbles-lost          3-1               2-1
Punts-avg.          6-41.1          7-34.1
Penalties-yards     3-45             6-55

DeWitt Central   0   0   0   0 -   0
Marion              7   0   3   0 -  10

M – Walsh 4 run (Kroemer kick)
M – FG Kroemer 25

Individual Statistics

Rushing
DeWitt – Brackey 8-17, Stillmunkes 12-49, Cousins 1-3, Kagemann 6-8, Grell 1-9
Marion – Walsh 16-72, Kramer 13-44, Hardman 7-8, Fuller 3-14, Young 3-8, Carstensen 1-3

Passing
DeWitt –  Brackey 7-14-2-75, Sheppard 1-2-1-26
Marion – Hardman 7-10-0-46

Receiving
DeWitt – Stillmunkes 1-26, Grell 3-31, Cahill 1-8, Enyeart 2-21, Kagemann 1-15
Marion – Cannoy 4-28, Fuller 2-1, Carstensen 1-17