By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The bad news about Cabot’s trip to Marion on Friday is that reserves played the entire second half and were outscored 6-0. The good news is that the starters built a 42-0 lead by halftime and the backups played the whole second half with a continuous clock running.
Marion had no answer for Cabot’s powerful offense while the Panther defense stuffed the Patriots most of the night.
Cabot led 21-0 by the end of the first quarter. Junior fullback Kolton Eads got two of his three touchdowns in the first quarter, including the opening score on a 25-yard jaunt into the teeth of the Marion defense.
Later in the quarter, Eads took it 18 yards for another score and a 14-0 lead.
The Cabot defense then forced a turnover, and senior halfback Jason Schrunk took it 15 yards for another score with a minute left in the opening frame.
Three more touchdowns followed in the second quarter, with Eads getting the first one with 10 minutes left until halftime.
Another three-and-out forced by the Panther defense led to another touchdown on the halfback dive. This time it was senior Jalen Hemphill who capped the drive with a 12-yard run to make it 35-0.
The Panthers went to the air one time in the game, and it resulted in the final touchdown of the night. Sophomore quarterback Jarrod Barnes hit senior receiver Jake Ferguson for 33 yards to set the final margin.
Eads led all rushers with 18 carries for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Junior tailback Andreas Jackson led Marion with 84 yards on 10 carries.
The Panthers are now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play. They will face West Memphis next week for Cabot High School’s 2014 Homecoming game. The Blue Devils were upset 13-12 at Searcy on Friday, and are 2-3 and 1-1 so far this season. They beat Marion 41-0 last week in their 7A/6A-East Conference opener.
