Indians hold on for 52-46 win over Earle

Marked Tree (4-0, 2-0) turned a six point deficit at halftime into an eight point and the Indians held on for a 52-44 win over Earle this past Friday in 2A-2 football action at Don Lovell Memorial Field in Marked Tree.

Earle got on the board first with a touchdown pass in the opening quarter to go up 6-0 with 8:37 left. The Bulldogs added the two-point conversion to make it 8-0. The turnover bug hit the Indians early as T.J. Hodges fumbled on the first play from scrimmage for Marked Tree with Earle recovering the ball at the Indians' 45-yard line. Earle drove deep into Indian territory and looked like they were going to punch it in only to see Jayvion Tribble come out of the pile with the ball and return it to the Marked Tree 17-yard line with 5:45 left. The Indians couldn't take advantage and had to punt with Earle getting the ball at the Marked Tree 34-yard line. Earle took advantage of the short field and completed another touchdown pass to go up 14-0 with 42 seconds left. The two-point play was no good. Marked Tree started their next drive from their own 27-yard line before Hodges broke off a 52 yard run to the Earle 20-yard line. The quarter ended during Marked Tree's drive with Earle leading 14-0.

Hodges got the Indians on the board with 10:26 left on a 14 yard run to cut the lead to 14-6 Bulldogs. Ken Carter found Tate Swink with the two-point pass to make it 14-8. Earle moved the ball into Marked Tree territory only to see Ja'Kaymion Williams intercept a pass for the Indians inside the five-yard line and return the ball to the eight-yard line where Marked Tree took over with 7:27 left. A long touchdown run by Hodges was negated with a penalty as the Indians punted with the ball going out of bounds at the Earle 42-yard line with 3:55 left. The Bulldogs had to punt the ball back to Marked Tree with the ball being downed at the Indians' 20-yard line. Marked Tree put together a drive that ended with a 20 yard touchdown pass from Carter to J.J. Risper to make it 14-14 with eight seconds left in quarter. The two-point try was no good. Earle added another score as time expired after Marked Tree was flagged for roughing the passer, giving the Bulldogs another play. The two-point try was good as Earle took a 20-14 lead to halftime.

Indian Ladarrius Brown makes the tackle during the Indians win over Earle this past Friday.

Hodges fumbled the ball on his kick-off return to start the second half with Earle recovering at Marked Tree’s 46-yard line. The Bulldogs gave the ball back after a bad snap forced the punter to run the ball being tackled at the Earle 24-yard line with 9:40 left. Carter and Cam Marshall hooked up on a five-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 20 with 7:14 left. The two-point play was no good. The Bulldogs moved the ball to the Marked Tree 10-yard line on their next series before coughing the ball up with Marked Tree's DeQuincey Wilkins recovering. The Indians gave the ball back with a fumble and were flagged with a personal foul giving Earle the ball at the Marked Tree 43-yard line with 3:13 left. The Bulldogs again used the passing game to reach the end zone to go up 26-20. The two-point try was good making it 28-20 Bulldogs with 57 seconds left in the third quarter.

Earle was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct after the kick-off return that moved the ball to the Bulldogs' 31-yard line with 42 seconds left. Carter and Marshall hooked up again on a 31 yard touchdown pass making the score 28-26 Earle. Carter added the two-point conversion run to tie the game at 28. Earle scored 28 seconds later on a touchdown to make it 34-28 Bulldogs. The two-point try was good to make the score 34-28. The Indians ran one play after the kick-off before the quarter ended.

The fourth quarter saw Marked Tree score on their drive from the third quarter as Hodges ran 18 yards for the score to make it 36-34 with 9:40 left. Carter found Swink again with the two-point pass to tie the game at 36. Earle started their drive at midfield and moved to the Marked Tree 26-yard line with the help of an unsportsmanlike conduct on Marked Tree moved the ball to the Indians' 26-yard line. Earle's quarterback scrambled under pressure and tossed a short pass that went off his receiver's hand and into the hands of Landon Lewis who returned it 90 yards for a Marked Tree touchdown with 7:56 left making it 42-36 Indians. Carter and J.J. Risper hooked up for the two-point pass to push the Marked Tree lead to 44-36. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on their next possession with the Indians taking over at their own 38-yard line with 5:16 left. Tribble came in and had a big run to the Earle 21-yard line before Timothy Risper came in and scored from 21 yards out to make it 50-36 Marked Tree with 4:39 left. Carter added the two-point run making the score 52-36 Indians. Earle cut the lead to 52-44 with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 2:28 left. Marked Tree took a knee on back to back to plays to let the clock run out to take the 52-44 win.

Marked Tree's T.J. Hodges turns the corner for a nice gain during game action this past Friday at Don Lovell Memorial Field.

“Oh my goodness it was like a track meet tonight. My kids could have folded early, but kept competing all night,” Marked Tree head coach Waylon Dunn said after the game. “We do dumb stuff, but we compete and keep playing and that is why I'm so proud of them right now. We can run and throw the ball and that gives us a chance,” Dunn added. This was a heck of a ball game. I don't want to see them again unless it's in state finals,” Dunn said. “Des Arc will be a different animal next week. They'll run the veer and the option and grind it out. We'll try to get ready for that,” Dunn added.

Hodges finished with 20 carries for 181 yards and two touchdowns as Carter added 10 carries for 58 yards while completing 11 of 14 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Marshall had three catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns as Swink added three catches for 41 yards. Williams and Lewis both had an interception on defense with Tribble and Swink both recovering a fumble for the Indians.