By Buddy "Friday Night" Cobb, Williamson County Bureau
MARION — The Wildcats opened their 2026 season the hard way, dropping a shootout to the Lions, according to the Southern Illinoisan, in a game that turned into a scoreboard race rather than the kind of defensive slugfest Marion fans are used to seeing early in the year.
Details of the final score weren't spelled out in early coverage, but the framing was clear enough: this was a track meet, not a grind, and Marion came up short in it. Coaches and staff will have plenty of film to dig through this week as the roster settles into its 2026-27 form and the Wildcats look to tighten things up before conference play heats up.
One game doesn't make a season in a county that's seen plenty of Friday nights turn around fast. Marion gets another shot soon enough — and a home crowd that isn't going anywhere.
filed from the press box, where the coffee's always burnt.
— Compiled from reporting by the Southern Illinoisan and MaxPreps.
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