Marion football team is tired of being 17th

MARION — If ‘1’ is the loneliest number, what’s ‘17’?

To the Marion football program, it’s the most excruciating number. The ugliest number, the worst number.

The Wolves have been 17 according to the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s RPI formula the last two seasons. Sixteen teams make the playoffs in Class 4A.

“It definitely left a bad taste in our mouths,” said Marion quarterback Kaleb Diers. “It just really drives us to get in an extra rep here or there. If we’re not doing anything, come up to the field and run, throw the ball around. Just the little things push us not to be average but wanting to get better.

“Never be satisfied.”

Let’s be completely accurate here. Marion was 17th in 4A RPI last season but actually 16th in 4A RPI in the 2022 season.

It didn’t qualify for the postseason because No. 17 was Cedar Rapids Washington, and Washington beat Marion in that regular season. Them’s the rules, as they say.

Marion went 6-3 last season but got shut out after a 31-19 loss in the regular-season finale to Waverly-Shell Rock. Ouch, just ouch.

Head coach Michael Joyner is a math teacher at the school, coincidentally. As you’d expect, he knows who is where RPI-wise at all times, for better or worse.

It’s been worse the last two seasons.

“The unfortunate thing was I knew it, I knew the chances going into that last game both years,” Joyner said. “I knew the possibility of it happening, so I was able to temper my expectations and whatnot. But it doesn’t temper your disappointment. Not many people are in the position to look into the eyes of about 50 guys, half or two-thirds of them bawling their eyes out.

“We met that goal, we met that number that we felt we had to have. You can do ifs, ands or buts, but you need to respect the journey you went on. If one team on any part of our schedule would have won one more game, we would have been in. It didn’t matter which one, district or non-district. Just one more win.”

So the emphasis for the Wolves this season is to perhaps get one more victory. Or have one of their opponents get one more victory.

Whatever it takes to not be 17th.

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“Definitely work harder, push people more at practice,” said linebacker-running back Logan Tilkes. “Make sure that people aren’t taking plays off, not messing around in the back. Make sure that everybody wants to be here and do stuff. It doesn’t feel good being 17th. It’s a sick feeling because there’s not a whole lot you can do about it.

“We had a pretty good record the last two years, 6-3 last year. But not making it definitely makes you mad. You want to win, you want to play in the playoffs, you want to play under the lights in November.”

Marion graduated its top two leading rushers and all of its leading receivers, but feels confident about its chances in 2024. A lot of that has to do with Diers, who is going into his third season as starting signal caller.

The 6-foot-6 senior is a University of Northern Iowa commit as a tight end. He has never played the position.

“I want to implement kind of more hard-nosed running into my game this year to get ready for UNI,” Diers said. “Maybe even do some lead blocking after I hand it off to our running backs. We’ll see.”

“His athleticism, obviously, is God given, but the way that he attacks his opportunity, the way he attacks his chances to get better as an athlete, as a leader is extremely impressive,” Joyner said. “He is able to hold court to his peers because they have seen the work that he has done to put himself into that position. It’s being a leader by not doing anything or not showing the guys how it’s done. They don’t buy that bull ... but because he has worked himself into being a good athlete.”

Tilkes led Marion in tackles last season, despite being just a freshman. His tackle total included 13 1/2 for loss, 7 1/2 sacks.

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“We were small but mighty last year,” Joyner said. “We had about 14 or 15 seniors last year that were on our team. Of those, about 10 or 11 of them started at least one way on the ball. But I think what we have now is we have experience. We have two two-year returning linemen, and that really helps. We’ve got a three-year starting quarterback, and that helps a ton as well.

“We’ve just got guys who know what the expectations are, they know there are gaps that need to be filled. The last 10 months they have worked their tails off. We have guys who just want it a little bit.”

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com