After a statement conference victory against Presbyterian, Marist football traveled to DeLand, Florida on Saturday while looking to carry that momentum.
Although they were down 7-0 a minute into the second quarter, the Red Foxes turned the game around with strong play in the following 14 minutes of game action en route to a 28-14 win. After the Hatters’ touchdown, Stetson had two drives that combined for nine total yards followed by an interception and turnover on downs. The half then ended with the Hatters in position on their half of the field.
Marist complemented the strong defensive play with explosiveness on the offensive side. The Red Foxes generated two plays of 30 or more yards that found the end zone.
Below is a look at the film from four of the game’s key plays.
Play 1
Marist junior wide receiver Lance Martinez (No. 7) missed the start of the season with injury before being eased back into the lineup last week. In this game, he looked to be back in shape, leading the team with 71 receiving yards.
Because his injury recovery has limited his playtime so far this season, the Stetson defense, coordinated by Dustin Kincaid, underestimated Martinez. Sophomore defensive back Jahyden Clark (No. 5) was in press man coverage, and freshman safety Dylan Kelly (No. 16) rotated down.
The second graduate student quarterback Sonny Mannino (No. 12) sees Kelly rotate down, he knows where he’s going with the football. Martinez gets a step on Clark and it ends up translating to six points for the Red Foxes.
Martinez has blazing speed. His vertical presence was a key part of the Red Fox offense last year. He averaged 20 yards per reception last year, which was the second highest mark in the PFL. He achieved that en route to the second most receiving yards on the team behind only Connor Hulstein.
It’s safe to assume he’ll have a similar impact this year.
Play 2
Graduate student offensive lineman Will Aaronson (No. 63) is the reason this play works.
Coaches often question which guard-pull run play is best. Is it power, where the guard goes to the playside-linebacker, or counter, where the guard kicks out the playside-edge?
Well, Aaronson gives the Red Foxes the best of both worlds here. Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Sal LoGrasso (No. 75) and junior tight end Joey Bemis (No. 87) are able to double-team because Aaronson took on the playside edge, junior linebacker Barrett Kennedy (No. 58). This allowed nearly everyone on the playside to be accounted for.
The only player left to make a play before graduate student running back Isaiah Simmons (No. 2) could get into the open field was junior linebacker Shug Bentley (No. 41), but Aaronson didn’t stop at sealing the playside edge. He went up to the second level and laid a block on Bentley, allowing Simmons to reach the second level. From there Simmons works a juke move to slip right by junior defensive back Kah’mari Hill (No. 3) in the open field.
This 44-yard rush was the longest of Simmons’ career.
Play 3
The Red Foxes have a wide variety of different fronts they like to use, one of which is their three-down front. A three-down lineman front allows the defense to keep eight bodies in coverage without putting a player in the awkward position of dropping from the defensive line.
The trade-off is that it is much more difficult to get pressure on the quarterback. To compensate for this, Mike Horan sends another rusher from off the line, senior linebacker James Kratchovil (No. 59).
The Hatters still have six players in protection, so each of the four rushing Red Foxes should be accounted for. This isn’t what happens, though. The Hatters leave Kratchovil unblocked and junior quarterback Thomas Von Grote (No. 12) throws a contested pass into the seam and the week prior’s PFL defensive player of the week intercepts the pass.
Unique pressure packages expose poor blocking. Poor blocking leads to pressure. Pressure leads to bad decisions.
Play 4
When there’s not much time left in a half, pass rushers get to pin their ears back and commit to bringing down the quarterback. The Red Foxes use a sim pressure on this play. They show a five-man rush pre snap, then senior linebacker Kade Werner (No. 29) drops into coverage, leaving sophomore defensive lineman Naheem Ridore (No. 5) as the lone rusher on the right side.
Because the right side of the Hatters’ offensive line is looking to go “man-on” as the rest of the linemen half-slide left, junior right tackle Jonathan Stark (No. 68) and junior right guard Jon Faletra (No. 71) double-team Ridore.
This creates an opening for junior Wayne Adair (No. 42), a defensive back with more than enough mobility to outmaneuver offensive linemen, to loop over the two interior defensive linemen and get the sack without getting touched by an offensive lineman.
Playing in nearly 100 degree weather is never easy, but, continuing to play the football they showed in this second quarter, the Red Foxes took the victory with an explosive passing game, strong blocking and a well-drawn-up pressure plan defensively.
Marist is now 2-0 in conference play and has its sights set on Columbia. The Red Foxes are 0-7 all time against the Lions, but head into this one with plenty of momentum.
Edited by Max Rosen
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo by Michael O’Neil
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