Football: Wallace, special teams help Marysville run by Thomas Worthington
Friday, October 6, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Marysville’s Nathan Wood beats Worthington’s Caden Spaulding to the pylon during the Monarchs’ 48-7 win at Thomas Worthington Oct. 6. Photo: Kevin Lam
Corbin Wallace pointed to the efforts of the coaching staff as a reason for turning around a season that looked doomed for the Marysville football team just two weeks ago.
The Monarchs put it all together in a 48-7 win at Thomas Worthington in an OCC-Cardinal Division game on Oct. 6.
It came after winning at Dublin Jerome last week to snap a three-game losing streak and losses in four out of five games.
“I think it was just the coaches,” said Wallace, a sophomore fullback who rushed for 85 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries. “They flipped the switch on us and went hard on us. I also want to thank coach (Brent) Johnson for pushing everybody too. I think without him, we wouldn’t have been able to do this.”
Marysville (4-4, 2-1) ran for 356 yards of its 371 yards of total offense, scoring six times on the ground. Led by Wallace and Matt Krutowskis, who carried 10 times for 116 yards and a touchdown, the Monarchs had nine different ball carriers.
Thomas Worthington’s Grey Kegley throws from the pocket during the Cardinals’ home game against Marysville Oct 6. Photo: Kevin Lam
“We always tell them that they have to believe in our process,” Johnson said. “This group has come back every Monday – win or lose – and they’ve wanted to work. I’m proud of them. They deserved to get paid and they weren’t getting paid. If you play that way, good things will happen.”
It was the special teams that really changed the game for Marysville. Carson Overbey recovered a fumble on a punt return in the first quarter, which led to Wallace’s first score – a 4-yard run to give the Monarchs a 7-0 lead with 2 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
JT Hiltscher added an 85-yard kickoff return to start the second half and Dominic Brown blocked a punt that set up Wallace’s third touchdown – a 20-yard run to the right with 8:47 left in the third quarter. Wallace also had a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
“One of the big things in our program is (saying), ‘On to the next.’ Well, in special teams, you don’t get a next play,” Johnson said. “You gotta make that play count. We’ve talked about competing on that rep and how important that is. We were good on special teams tonight – we really were.”
Marysville quarterback Brevin Bourquin takes the snap during the game between the Monarchs and Thomas Worthington Oct. 6. Photo: Kevin lam
The defense was stalwart too, holding Thomas (5-3, 1-2) to 156 yards of total offense and just 21 yards on the ground on 10 carries.
Jacob Fischer and Cameron Smith each had interceptions and Brandon Dunn had 3.5 tackles to lead the Monarchs on defense.
Thomas overcame a 17-0 with 35 unanswered points to win at Marysville last season to secure its first winning season since 1999. But the same magic wasn’t there this time around.
Thomas, which is seeking its second consecutive winning season for the first time since 1988 and ’89, was led by Grey Kegley, who threw for 135 yards and a touchdown on 14 of 25 passing. Dominic Parini had three catches for 60 yards, including 42 on a slant in the second quarter that set up Aiden Llewellyn’s 8-yard touchdown reception.
Noah Walters led 5.5 tackles and was a bright spot for the Cardinals on special teams, punting four times for an average of 43.8 yards, including a 47-yard punt downed at Marysville’s 7-yard line in the first quarter.
“The things we’ve been trying to fix in practice just keep biting us in the butt,” Thomas coach Mike Picetti said. “We had a good week of practice and we had a good game plan coming in. But we didn’t execute that game plan. We have a lot of things we have to fix.”