In what was billed as the toughest Class 1 district in the state, the district final lived up to its billing.
Ultimately Adrian held on in a slugfest with Marionville, winning 17-16 and advancing the Class 1 semifinals against St. Vincent. The victory sends the Blackhawks to the semifinals for the third time in five seasons. It also snapped Marionville’s 25-game winning streak, the longest in the state headed into Friday night.
The Comets last loss came to Adrian in the 2022 state quarterfinals.
The Blackhawks took advantage of numerous Comet turnovers to take an 8-0 lead early in the second quarter when quarterback Colton Miller connected with Mason Rusow for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Miller followed that with a two-point conversion.
Adrian would add on another touchdown in the second quarter when Miller again found the end zone to give the Blackhawks a 14-0 lead.
Marionville added a touchdown and two-point conversion heading into halftime.
Both teams' defenses would tighten in the third quarter and the game remained at 14-8 until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Powered by a defensive stand led by a tackle for loss by Byrler Ford, Adrian took over deep in Comet territory.
“We showed a lot of perseverance tonight,” Adrian head coach Matt Davis said. “I’m proud of that.”
The Blackhawks worked the clock down to 2:38 left in the game when Miller came on for a 27-yard field goal, his first of the season.
That gave the Blackhawks a 17-8 lead. Marionville found the end zone for a second time with 1:10 left in the game to draw within a point, 17-16. Adrian freshman Elijah Hubbard, who also had an interception on the opening drive of the game, recovered the onside kick for the Blackhawks. With no timeouts Marionville was forced to watch the Blackhawks take a knee to run out the clock.
Adrian moves on to the Class 1 semifinals next week. The Blackhawks will host St. Vincent at 1 p.m. in Adrian.
