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Marion Local Completes Perfect Season Defeating Newark Catholic 42-7 in State Championship

By Danny Fogarty, 12/04/21, 3:15PM EST

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Newark Catholic junior running back Mason Hackett rushes past a defender on his way to the end zone during the first quarter.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Division VII finally has its victor.

Marion Local defeated Newark Catholic 42-7 capping off a perfect season with a win in the Division VII State Championship.

The Flyers (16-0) were led by five total touchdowns on 252 yards passing from senior quarterback Peyton Otte.

The Green Wave (14-2) ended its season with Saturday's loss and a 24-21 defeat to Heath in Week 9 being its only blemishes on the 2021 schedule.

Even with the disappointing result, Newark Catholic still glad to have made it to Division VII's final game.  Green Wave coach Ryan Aiello said he is proud of his players despite the loss.

"I'm so proud of this football team and what they've accomplished," Aiello said. "Credit Marion Local on taking advantage of a lot of things that we gave them, but we're proud of this program."

The Flyers started the game off strong with three touchdowns in the first quarter including a 51-yard passing touchdown from Otte to senior receiver Brady Ronnebaum.

The Green Wave battled back in the second with a 10-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Cole Canter to junior running back Mason Hackett.  

Newark Catholic would have another promising drive near the half, but it was cut short by an interception by Marion Local junior linebacker Aiden Eifert.

The Green Wave had three turnovers on the day.  Aiello said the turnovers were especially detrimental to his team considering how well Marion Local played offensively.

"We can't afford to make mistakes, and we obviously made way too many of them," Aiello said. "When we play a tremendous team like that they're gonna capitalize on those mistakes."

The Flyers punched in another score to hold a 28-7 lead at the half.

Marion Local continued its offensive supremacy in the third quarter with Otte rushing for a 54-yard score followed by a 39-yard passing touchdown to senior running back Dylan Fleck just a minute later.

With the Flyers up over 30 points, the clock kept running for the remainder of the game.  They would retain the ball for most of the fourth quarter to secure their victory.

Saturday's win gave Marion Local its all-time best 12th State Championship in history.

The Green Wave can be glad to have had a runner-up finish in this year's State Championship but will need to recover from the loss of some key seniors.

One of those seniors is Canter, who said while he wishes for a different finish to the season, he is glad his team reached the State Championship

"We had a goal back in summer to get here, and we got here," Canter said. "Very disappointed about the result, but we got here."

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