Coleman Carries To 27-14 Win Over Marion

BY ALLEN GREGORY
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

ABINGDON, Va. – It’s become a familiar sight around the Southwest District.

Abingdon senior Braden Coleman appears to be buried in a sea of tacklers, then suddenly emerges behind his blockers en route to a big play.

Coleman offered another display of his escape skills Friday at Falcon Stadium.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound tailback accounted for 108 yards rushing and two touchdowns as the Falcons stopped SWD rival Marion by a 27-14 margin. Marion (5-5) badly needed the win to preserve its playoff hopes.

While Abingdon (5-5) had no chance of advancing, Coleman said the Falcons were not lacking for incentive.

“Last year, [Marion] took our playoff hopes away, and tonight was a little payback,” Coleman said. “This is a rivalry game, and we could tell Marion wanted it.
“We really wanted to win our last game for the seniors. We came out with fire.”

Coleman, who entered the night with 933 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns, capped Abingdon’s first drive with a 34-yard run. He added a 21-yard touchdown burst midway through the second quarter.

As for a running style, Coleman said it’s all improvisation and bloodlines. Junior Coleman, father of Braden, was a record-setting running back at Grundy High School.

“I don’t really think about, I just follow my blockers and one thing leads to another,” Coleman said.

Senior linemen such as senior Andrew Nadler, Stephen Kelly (6-4, 215), Matt Arnold (6-2, 230) and Bradley Simmons (6-2, 260) helped AHS control the line of scrimmage. Senior tight end Zac Mitchell (6-3, 190) also contributed blocking.

The game, which was emotional from the start, ended in a wild fight near midfield in the final minute. With punches being thrown and several wrestling matches occurring between players, the officials decided to let the final 51 seconds run off the clock with no more plays.

There was no traditional post-game handshake between teams.

“Our kids played with a lot of emotion and so did Marion,” AHS coach John Bowles said. “It’s very unfortunate that we lost our self-control at the end. We want to play with class and character, and we did that for the most part.”

Marion senior Brock Hanna, the SWD rushing and scoring leader, managed 105 yards on 20 carries against an Abingdon defense geared to stop him. The Scarlet Hurricane was hurt by 11 penalties for 125 yards, plus Marion gave up several long scores.

“This was a high-strung game,” Marion coach Mike Briscoe said. “Things got a little physical early with some hits out of bounds that weren’t called. I worried about it getting out of control, and that was kind of what happened.”

Marion put in a new wrinkle into the traditional Wing-T offense with the buck sweep. While the Scarlet Hurricane topped the 200-yard rushing, AHS had the edge in balance.

“Abingdon had a good plan defensively, and they took advantage of our aggressive approach on defense,” Briscoe said. “This is a tough loss. We had to have this one for the playoffs.”

Abingdon iced the win with 9:16 remaining when sophomore quarterback Jacob Hess hit 6-5 senior Cole Manning on a 37-yard scoring pass. Manning finished with just under 100 yards receiving, while Hess also ran for a score.

Before the game was ended in premature fashion by the officials, Marion had recovered an Abingdon fumble.

“We had three time-outs and we were on the Abingdon side of the field,” Briscoe said. “We don’t believe it quitting. We will fight it out until the last second.”

After several tight losses earlier in the season, Bowles was pleased with the response of his team.

“This was a great way to finish, especially for our seniors,” Bowles said.

agregory@bristolnews.com|(276) 669-2544

Marion 0 6 0 8–14
Abingdon 7 6 7 7-27
Scoring Summary
A-Coleman 34 run (Case kick)
M-Parsons 36 run (run failed)
A-Coleman 21 run (kick failed)
A-Hess 27 run (Case kick)
A-Manning 37 pass from Hess (Case kick)
M-McClure 14 run (Hanna run)
Team Stats
First Downs: M 15, A 16; Rushes-Yards: M 204, A 170; Passing Yards: M 39, A 125; Comp-.-Att.-Int.: M 6-13-1, A 8-19-0; Penalties-Yards: M 11-125, A 4-40; Fumbles-Lost: M 2-0, A 2-1; Punts-Avg: M 2-29, A-1-24.