by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter      
      There would be no opportunity for a miracle comeback this time.
      Marion took charge and took Grundy out of the game early with a 38-12 win over the Golden Wave in the Region IV, Division 3 semifinals Friday night in Marion.
      Brett Johnson, who broke Grundy fans' hearts with a key kickoff return in a Marion win in Southwest District play in October, staked the Scarlett Hurricanes (8-3) to a quick 6-0 lead with a 56-yard punt return for a score just 90 seconds into the game.
      "The punt return, then on their first possession we slipped and fell in the secondary and gave them the ball at the three. We got in a hole on two plays," Grundy coach Gre Rowe said.
       A 24-yard pass from Matt Noe to wing back David Rivero set up the first Marion offensive touchdown, a two-yard run by fullback Eric Bane. Noe and Johnson added TD runs to build a 25-0 lead by the 9:19 mark of the second quarter.

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by Lloyd Combs
Sports Reporter       
      
THE GAME: Haysi (5-5) at J.I. Burton (8-2); Region D, Division 1 semifinals.

DATE, TIME and PLACE: Saturday, Nov. 21, 1:30 p.m., Lawson-Fitchko Stadium, Norton.

THE TEAMS:

HAYSI -- After a season that opened with four straight losses, all to playoff teams, and which included five consecutive road games, Haysi is a different football team than it was the first half of the year.
      The Tigers are a much better football team, offensively and defensively. Three seniors, quarterback/safety Chris Fleming, offensive lineman/linebacker Chris Whitt and running back/linebacker Jeremy Yates, have shown the way and a number of new starters have fit nicely into various roles around them.
      Fleming doesn't have the numbers he had last year, but he has been very effective running and throwing the ball, especially in the second half of the season. Dakota Stanley and Hobart Newberry have developed into one of the better wide out tandems in the region.
      Haysi coach James Colley says his club has to maintain the progress it's made in recent weeks.
       "We have to play the way we've played the last four or five games to have a chance to win this week," Colley said.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.