How Marionville football secured a state championship that was 20 years in the making
COLUMBIA — From the moments before Hugh Eaton got on the bus to make the drive to Columbia, the star Marionville running back and linebacker felt like he was in a dream.
A send-off in the small town community of Marionville saw fans line up down Highway 60 to send the Comets off. Kids from the elementary school, middle school and parents made sure they knew how special the moment was.
Upon arrival at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Eaton and the rest of the Comets looked at the size of the stadium and how bright the lights shined. Seemingly the entire city of Marionville made the trip to see if they could bring home the school's first state championship in 20 years.
Once the clock struck zero at the end of the game, Eaton said the whole day still didn't feel real. A 29-0 final on the scoreboard capped off a 14-0 season as he hugged his teammates around him while his eyes swelled with tears.
More: Marionville caps off perfect season with second Class 1 state title in school history
"It's something we've talked about since we were super young," Eaton said. "It's been something that seemed really far away until this year. To get it done and to do it the way we did feels great."
Marionville's second state championship in school history capped off an incredible four-year stretch for a group of seniors that went 49-3 during their careers. In the previous four years before their arrival, the Comets program had only one winning season and didn't advance in postseason play.
The past four years built up to this moment. Growing confidence and an established program under former Comets standout Paden Grubbs, who played on the state championship 2003 team, gave the Comets the belief that this would be their year.
"I feel like it's a God thing — I've had peace in my heart ever since the postseason started like this group was going to do it," Grubbs said. "Like Hugh said, it's kind of a dream come true. I bleed blue. I love Marionville and the community and these kids in it. I'm so proud of these kids, our program, our town and our community."
Marionville won the Class 1 MSHSAA Show-Me Bowl in the same way it's won games all season — from topping Stockton in the opening week to shutting out North Platte on Friday evening — with one of the greatest defenses you'll ever see.
Friday marked Marionville's fifth shutout this season. In 13 of its 14 games, the Comets held opponents to eight points or fewer. Only Portageville, in the state quarterfinals, scored two touchdowns on the Comets and it was the defense that made a last-second goal-line stand to advance.
"It played the way it's been playing all year — lights out," Grubbs said. "We get there as a team and finish plays. Defensively, our guys did what they're coached to do and did a phenomenal job at taking advantage of some balls on the ground as well."
They also used their RPO offense, not a run-pass-option offense but one that the Comets call their "run-people-over" attack.
On 43 carries, Marionville rushed for 272 yards between four ball carriers. Eaton set the tone with his 62 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomores Bryer Guerin (87 rushing yards and a touchdown) and Cash Pomeroy (117 yards and a touchdown) showed the Comets' RPO offense won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
"We wanted to be built for November and December football," Grubbs said. "I felt like we did that very well and our kids were built for that this year. These kids bought into being physical and wanting to run the football and dictate the clock and tempo of the game. Our defense allowed us to do that."
Eaton looked at the state championship trophy still feeling like he was in the best dream possible and he didn't want to wake up.
A state championship 20 years in the making was coming home to Marionville. For a senior who helped lead the program's resurgence, the moment couldn't have been more perfect.
"We were just best friends and we've played for a long time since we were in Mighty Mites. You know, we've never been losers. We like winning and climbing up. We do it for each other. That's how I knew we were going to do it."
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: How Marionville won its first state championship since 2003
