Senior Colton Storla gave himself and Marion football fans a birthday to remember.

Storla had a career night on his 18th birthday at Thomas Park Field, tying a Marion school record for touchdowns in a game with seven.

Storla and the rest of the Indian backfield ran for a combined 520 yards as they beat Anamosa in a 3A District 5 game, 58-35, Friday night.

Marion (3-1, 1-1) got back on the winning track after a disappointing 7-0 loss to Western Dubuque last Friday.

“It was more important that we improved (from last week) then it was for us to get to .500 (in the district),” Marion Coach Tony Perkins said.

It didn’t take long for the two teams to start putting the ball in the end zone. After being unable to capitalize on a Anamosa fumble, the Indians struck early in the first quarter after a second consecutive Raider fumble. The Indians used just two plays to stick the ball in the end zone. Storla’s big night started with a 13-yard touchdown run with just over eight minutes left in the quarter. Junior Trev Biery punched in the two-point conversion to put the Indians up 8-0.

Marion added another score late in the first quarter when Storla capped off a 92-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run, his second of the game. Storla ran it in on the two-point conversion to double the Indian lead to 16-0.

After taking a 16-0 in to the second quarter, the Indians gave the Raiders some life when they fumbled a punt to put Anamosa in business.  The Raiders got on the board when senior Aaron Krapfl took it in from 3 yards out after a big 30-yard gain on fourth down set up the Raiders inside the 5. Senior Jimmy Eide added the PAT to close the gap to 16-7.

The Indians quickly answered back in when Storla broke free for a 69-yard touchdown run and another two-point conversion to extend the Indian lead to 24-7.

Although the Raiders were able to put another touchdown on the board in the second quarter. when Nik Schulte connected with junior Josh Schulte from 3 yards out, the Indians controlled the quarter putting three more touchdowns on the board.

Storla rushed for touchdowns of 3, 3 and 6 yards to help the Indians take a 44-13 lead into the locker room. Those scores gave him six touchdowns in the first half.

“The offense really got after it this week,” Storla said. “Things starting clicking and guys made some great blocks.”

It took almost 10 minutes for the Indians to score the only points of the quarter. Storla struck again with just over 2 minutes left, scoring for 10 yards out for his seventh touchdown. The score put the Mercy Rule in effect as the Indians were up by more the 35 points.

“It (seven touchdowns) came in three quarters,” Perkins said of Storla’s feat. “He is a phenomenal athlete and it was an impressive team effort.”

Anamosa (2-2, 0-2) took advantage of the Marion second- and third-team defense to put up a quick 14 points. It took the Raiders just 13 seconds to strike twice midway through the fourth quarter.

The Indians did not panic as they let their running game continue to abuse the Raider defense. Junior Tyler Gunderson broke through the Raider defense for 56 yards to all but put the game away with 4:28 left to play.

“We should (continue to succeed) just as long as we keep playing like this and stay together as a family,” Storla said.

Marion hosts Vinton-Shellsburg next Friday.

Marion won the sophomore game 18-8.

MARION 58, ANAMOSA 35
Marion      16  28  7    7 - 58
Anamosa    0  13  0  22 – 35
Marion – Colton Storla 13 run (Trev Bievy run)
Marion – Storla 9 run (Storla run)
Anamosa – Aaron Krapfl 3 run (Krapfl kick)
Marion – Storla 69 run (Bievy run)
Marion – Storla 3 run (Storla run)
Marion – Storla 3 run (2 pt. Failed)
Anamosa – Josh Schulte 3 pass from Nik Schulte
Marion – Storla 6 run (2 pt. Failed)
Marion – Storla 10 run (Hagen kick)
Anamosa – Austin Parmenter 31 pass from Nik Schulte
Anamosa – Josh Schulte 16 pass from Nik Schulte
Marion – Gunderson 56 run (Hagen kick)
Anamosa – Krapfl 26 pass from Nik Schulte (Schulte pass)

Team Stats
First Downs – Marion 23, Anamosa 10
Rushes Yards – Marion 524, Anamosa 27
Receiving Yards – Marion 10, Anamosa 313
Comp-Att-Int – Marion 2-4-0, Anamosa 16-33-2
Punts-avg. – Marion 2-40.0, Anamosa 6-35.3
Fumbles-Lost – Marion 5-4, Anamosa 4-2
Penalties-Yards – Marion 10-47, Anamosa 12-100

Individual Stats
Rushing – Marion: Storla 23-260, McDonald 7-97, Biery 9-74, Gunderson 5-70, Cannoy 1- -12, Connolly 4-22, Kelly 2-12. Anamosa: Breon 2-3, Krapfl 5-23, Hewitt 4-0, Josh Schulte 1-0, Nik Schulte 7-0.
Passing – Marion: Cannoy 2-4-0-10. Anamosa: Nik Schulte 16-33-2-313
Receiving – Marion: Herron 2-10. Anamosa: Josh Schulte 7-102, Brown 3-23, Krapfl 1-26, Maruga 1-30, Permenter 2-28.