Marion Athletics -

Homecoming is a highlight on any school's calendar, and at Marion High School, it's no different.

This Friday night, Marion honors its homecoming court prior to the kickoff of a massive 6A East game against Jonesboro.

The homecoming court will be recognized at 6:30 p.m., and if you can't join in person, you can watch the presentation of the court, as well as the football game, for free on the MPAN YouTube channel.

Marion High School's homecoming senior class will be represented by Kaitlyn Austin, Kennedy Bullins, Reese Goodwin, Lanaysia Lemon, and Abbigale Simmons. Juniors will be Kendall Brown, Piper McFarland, Trinity Smith, and Jaida Sturdivant. The sophomore class features Xialin Gholson, Preslee Graham, Brooke Lewis, and Henley McCutchen.

Following the presentation of the court, Marion's Herbert Carter Global Community Magnet School will lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the award-winning Marion Patriot Pride Band's pregame fanfare.

At halftime, Marion's cheer team and band will perform.

All of the festivities aside, Jonesboro will be a formidable enough opponent when the ball is kicked off at 7 p.m., as two of the five teams tied for first place in the 6A East do battle.

“Jonesboro is big and talented across the board,” said Marion coach Lance Clark. “They're better in some areas than others, but they aren't bad anywhere. It's a big reason they have the record that they have right now.”

Jonesboro enters play this week with a 3-3 overall record following non-conference losses at Conway and at Joe T. Robinson, but the Golden Hurricane has flipped the script over the past month, topping Mississippi power DeSoto Central, Sheridan, and Little Rock Catholic, wrapped around a loss to two-time defending 6A East champion Benton in the conference opener.
Most importantly, Jonesboro owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Sheridan, and Little Rock Catholic should JHS end up tied with either one of them.

“They have really good wins right now, and if they beat us on Friday, then they're still in first place, they've won three in a row, and they have some big games left,” said Clark. “It's a similar position for us if we were to win. That's why it's such a big one.”

Marion (4-2 overall, 2-1 6A East) remained tied for first place following last Friday night's 28-25 victory at West Memphis, and the Patriots are 1-1 this season against fellow first-place outfits, having beaten Sylvan Hills Week 4 (46-43), and losing Week 5 to El Dorado (28-21).

The Patriots close their 2025 schedule on October 24 at Sheridan, celebrate Senior Night on October 31 against Little Rock Catholic, and travel to Benton to wrap the regular year on November 7.

“In a lot of ways, everything is in front of us,” said Clark. “If we play good football and win the rest of our games, then we will be in a decent spot in the playoffs. If we lose one or two more games, then who knows? But, we will have a say in how everything goes down the stretch.”

Jonesboro averages 37 points per game in 2025, and defensively surrenders more than 41 per outing, but that number drops to about 35 per game if you remove the 68 points Conway scored against Jonesboro in the opener.

Quarterback Asa Myers completes 52 percent of his passes this season for 1,425 yards and 12 touchdowns with just three interceptions, while senior tailback T.J. Brown has run 124 times for 675 yards and 13 TDs.

“The offensive backfield is good, two really good players,” said Clark. “They have a lot of speed everywhere, but the running back is particularly fast.”

Jonesboro's top two pass-catchers are Kameron Davis, who's caught 28 passes this fall for 556 yards and seven TDs, and Kamari Fisher, who's snagged 24 passes for 224 yards. In all, 10 players have caught passes for Jonesboro.

Noah Wendel (54 tackles), Jaques Jordan (36 stops), and Jahvon Ware (31 tackles) pace the Jonesboro defense.

Jonesboro has forced 10 turnovers in six games, led by Jaylen Alexander's four interceptions and Clarence Mucherson's three picks.

HOW TO WATCH
You can watch the Marion-Jonesboro game for free on the MPAN YouTube channel, with the presentation of the Homecoming Court beginning at 6:30 p.m.

6A EAST RESULTS FROM 10/10
Marion 28, W. Memphis 25
Benton 87, Sheridan 42
Sylvan Hills 25, El Dorado 10
Jonesboro 31, LR Catholic 14

6A EAST STANDINGS ON 10/13
SCHOOL. CONF. RECORD
Marion 2-1
Sylvan Hills 2-1
El Dorado 2-1
Benton 2-1
Jonesboro 2-1
LR Catholic 1-2
Sheridan 1-2
W. Memphis 0-3

6A EAST GAMES ON 10/17
Jonesboro at Marion
Benton at El Dorado
Sheridan at LR Catholic
W. Memphis at Sylvan Hills