CEDAR RAPIDS — Michael Joyner is a math teacher, so you can be rest assured he has this completely scoped out, every number crunched.
Right now, his Marion football team has a Class 4A playoff berth. That’s right now.
The Wolves went a long way toward securing one with a clutch 28-21 win Friday night at 10th-ranked Decorah. Kaiden Griffith caught a 12-yard touchdown pass in the back left corner of the end zone from Kaleb Diers with 20.7 seconds left to win it.
Marion still has two regular-season games remaining this coming Friday at home against Mason City and in two weeks at Waverly-Shell Rock. So that puts a bit of perspective on the Decorah heroics.
“It’s good, it’s nice,” Joyner said. “As you know, I’m a math teacher and I like to look at numbers. We just have to go out and do our job. For me to feel comfortable, I want two more wins.”
Twitter
Two more wins for sure would get Marion in as likely District 2 runner-up to top-ranked Western Dubuque. But a slip-up could create multiple scenarios for the runner-up spot.
The top two teams in each of 4A’s six districts qualify for the playoffs, as do four other schools who are determined by superior RPI. Marion went into this week with an RPI of 11 statewide in the class.
“Even if let’s say we beat Mason City but don’t beat Waverly-Shell Rock, that puts us in a tie for second place in the district, if things roll out the way they should,” said Joyner, crunching those numbers. “That would put Decorah second in the district because their RPI would be better than ours. So right now I wish I could say I was comfortable, but I won’t be comfortable until we can say we earned second place in the district by taking care of business these next two weeks.”
You can’t blame the coach for being wary. Last season, Marion finished 16th in RPI but lost out on a playoff spot because it was defeated in the regular season by Cedar Rapids Washington, which had the 17th-best RPI in 4A. A head-to-head result in that scenario superseded things.
Prep Sports Newsletter Signup
Delivered to your inbox weekly
Rankings, highlights and commentary
At any rate, Marion (5-2, 2-1) was able to flush a 35-7 loss last week to Western Dubuque, going on a 20-play, 10-minute touchdown drive to start the game against Decorah. Down 21-20, the Wolves took over the football at their own 16 with 2:43 remaining and maneuvered downfield via Diers’ arm and a pass-interference penalty.
Marion was in range for a potential game-winning field goal but decided to throw to the end zone to its best receiver. Good move.
“I didn’t tell them anything. Just run our offense,” Joyner said. “Honestly, you just go back to what you practice. If you try and make a moment more important than it is, what it needs to be, sometimes the kids get overwhelmed and they won’t perform like they can.
“We had confidence in our kicker if we wanted to kick the ball, too. It was just a one-point game. But we just said ‘Hey, let’s take a couple of shots here and see what happens.’ Man, what a throw.”
Red-zone ramblings
Two top-ranked teams went down Friday night. Williamsburg, No. 1 in Class 3A, lost at seventh-rated Solon, 21-14, while 8-Player’s No. 1, Gladbrook-Reinbeck saw No. 9 Clarksville rally late to beat it, 38-36.
Other significant games included Class 5A top-ranked Southeast Polk easily handling No. 3 Waukee, 38-0. The Rams play second-ranked West Des Moines Dowling this coming week.
Bondurant-Farrar beat Gilbert, 38-7, in a matchup of the third and fourth-ranked teams, respectively, in Class 4A. Also in the class, eighth-ranked North Polk disposed of No. 10 Indianola, 27-0.
MFL MarMac continued rebounding from its first loss of the season two weeks ago by knocking off Class 1A sixth-ranked Denver, 28-7. MFL MarMac is No. 4.
Also in the class, No. 5 Wilton scored late to toppled eighth-ranked West Branch, 21-17.
Read More: How the ranked Iowa high school football teams fared in Week 7
This is the final week of the regular season for teams in Class 8-Player, A, 1A and 2A.
Central City clinched the 8-Player, District 5 championship Friday night with a 44-13 win at Lone Tree. Lisbon won the Class A, District 5 title after shellacking Danville, 63-14.
Monticello has cinched the title in Class 2A, District 4.
Comments: (319)-398-8258, [email protected]