JAGUARS EDGE PHOENIX 14-12 IN MARION

Attempt to tie the game in closing minutes comes up short; F/M/FA falls to 5-2

The Phoenix had three touchdowns called back because of penalties and didn’t score on any of those drives in what was a frustrating 14-12 loss to Corsica-Stickney in Marion Friday night, Oct. 6. The Jaguars, No. 4 in Class 9B, improved to 5-2 while Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy — which plays in Class 9AA — dropped to 5-2.

Corsica-Stickney took an 8-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run with 4 minutes to play in the first quarter before giving up the first of two touchdowns in the third quarter — a 39-yard run by Marion junior Dominic Sperling; the two-point try on a pass from Karter Weber to Luke Peters fell incomplete.

And the Phoenix got the touchdown they needed late in the game when Weber connected with Sperling for an 8-yard pass that made it 14-12 with 2:50 to play. But for the second time in the game, F/M/FA failed on the two-point conversion attempt, and Corsica-Stickney ran out the clock.

Weber finished 13-for-18 passing for 138 yards and ran for another 68 yards on 12 carries. Sperling led the ground game with 109 yards on 16 carries while Chris Aasen, Evan Scharberg and Rocky Ammann had 35, 34 and 29 yards receiving, respectively.

Sawyer Wipf had nine solo tackles and was in on another to lead the Phoenix’s defensive effort. Sperling had four solo tackles and four assists while Jackson Donlan went for four solo tackles and was in on seven others.

The Phoenix travel to Florence-Henry (0-7) Friday night.