6A Game of the Week: Benton vs. Marion

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coming into the game the Benton Panthers are sitting at the number 6 spot and the Marion Patriots are sitting at number seven. This game will be crucial in my opinion to grab that mid season win against a conference opponent.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coming into the game Benton is 2-2 with a rocky start to the season. Coming into the game, I would think, Benton will need to establish a rushing attack as quick as possible. I believe the key for Benton is to get Braylen Russel involved and have a great start to the game. On the offensive side of the ball, I look for the offensive line to step up and be physical against Marion's defensive line and linebackers. Led by [player_tooltip player_id='130323' first='Walker' last='Davis'], Arkansas State commit, I think he'll have a good game. One of the players that I'm looking at will be Senior, Karter Sanders. I think Sanders is a great player at Center for the Panthers. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On defense for the Panthers, I look to the Sophomore class to really step up. One of the more physical guys that I've watched over this season is [player_tooltip player_id='585569' first='Walter' last='Hicks']. Hicks is a great linebacker for his age and really knows how to find the ball. The game, in my opinion, against Catholic was one of his more physical games so far this year. I look to him to have a solid night Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now lets look into the Marion offense and to start out, their quarterback play, isn't bad by any means. I think that their Quarterback, [player_tooltip player_id='149594' first='Ashton' last='Gray'], will have a great night against the Panthers defense. He's a quick shifty guy with some movement and he knows how to evade pressure and throw a nice deep ball when he needs to. Looking over to the receiver spot, I'm looking at [player_tooltip player_id='374367' first='Mitrell' last='Lewis']. Lewis last week had great connections from Gray in their win against Green County Tech. I'm watching this combination against Benton.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On defense for the Patriots, Jakobe Smith is the player I'm watching. their win against Green County Tech he had a great game with two interceptions and one of those running it back about 30 yards or more. He has been in on numerous amount of gang tackles and numerous tackles on his own. He is one of the better players on defense for the Patriots going into the game. Also at the linebacker position I look for [player_tooltip player_id='260670' first='Brian' last='Weatherspoon'] to make some big plays against the Panther offensive line. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For the Panthers to win this game they must have a great ground attack. They need to get Russel involved as much as possible in this game. If the offensive line does play poorly, I think this game is in the hands of the Marion. I think Marion is a very solid team coming into the game. If Marion is to win this game then the offense needs to put some points up and the defense needs to hold. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->