VAN HORNE — What letdown?

The Marion Indians completed a perfect regular season with a perfect first half that helped them to a 46-0 blowout of Benton Community on a cold and windy night in rural Benton County.

Marion looked more than ready for the start of the Class 3A postseason, destroying a Benton team that had hopes of its own to qualify for Wednesday’s substate. Instead the Bobcats finished 4-5 and watched Vinton-Shellsburg/DeWitt Central nab the last of four postseason spots in District 4.

Marion wrapped up the district championship last week with a last-second win over Maquoketa. The Indians knocked off unbeaten Union Community two weeks ago.

“Both sides of the ball played extremely well in hard conditions,” said Marion Coach Tony Perkins. “They are a special group. They get themseveles up for games. They do a lot of things right. I think they stumbled a little bit last week, and that woke them up.”

Marion (9-0) scored on all six first-half possessions, getting three TD passes from quarterback Dalton Combs. Running backs Colton Storla and Logan Pickering scored twice each, with Pickering’s final touchdown a 9-yard reception from Combs that made it a 40-0 game with 4:16 left in the second quarter.

At that point, Marion held a 213-1 yardage edge. The Indians were just that dominant.

“After last week, we really wanted to come back and prove to the state that we really are for real,” said fullback-linebacker Ben Holub. “That we could play with anyone in the state.”

Marion scored on its initial third-quarter possession, Combs connecting with tight end Ryan Hubbell on a 25-yard TD pass. Hubbell also had a 27-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter.

Combs completed 7 of 8 passes for 84 yards and four scores. Benton finished with 99 total yards.

“It’s whatever we want from here on out,” Combs said. “If we want it bad enough, I think we’re good enough to get it.”

Contact the writer: (319) 398-8259 or jeff.johnson@gazcomm.com