Spartans spank Marlins (PHOTOS)

It was a matter of heart and spirit.

The Destin Marlins, who lacked both, suffered a 54-7 trampling by the Bruner Spartans Thursday evening in their season opener at home.

“We came out with a sheer lack of intensity,” said Destin Coach Ron Griffiths. “We’ve got to learn to prepare better for the game.”

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As he walked off the field, Griffiths said he was disappointed that the Marlins weren’t “more fired up coming into tonight.

“And it just got worse. The more points they (Bruner) scored, the easier it got for them to score,” Griffiths said. “We just didn’t have the heart or intensity.”

Bruner scored on every possession, except in the minute right before the half when they just ran out the clock.

The Spartans rushed for 330 yards with Brandon Reyes as the main ball carrier. He had 12 rushes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. Antonio Marshall ran the ball five times for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Romeo Finley rushed for 20 yards and one touchdown and Auston Compton had an 8-yard catch for the other TD.

Destin, on the other hand, scored its only touchdown late in the third quarter. The Marlins put together a 13-play drive with a couple of big gains along the way. Quarterback Colby Tuthill went to Ryan Cole twice for gains of 13 and 14 yards. Tuthill connected with Chase Outzen for a pickup of 18 yards bringing the ball down to the 17-yard line.

On the next play, Isaiah Denman rushed for 7 yards, then Tuthill hit Darren Hasch in the right corner of the end zone for the score. Erick Ramos kicked in the 1-point conversion for a 46-7 game as time ran out in the third.

Down by more than 35 points, a running clock went into effect for the rest of the game.

Bruner scored one last time on a 10-play drive with Finley pushing it across on a 1-yard carry. Finley connected with Micah Hagan for the 2-point conversion and a 54-7 score.

Destin had one last shot to put some more points on the board. Tuthill picked up 9 yards on the ground, then connected with Outzen for a 38-yard gain. On the next play, Tuthill ran it down to the 1-yard line as time ran out.

“We did have a few positives tonight,” Griffiths said. “We made some good yardage. I was glad to see them sustain a drive in the third quarter. I’m proud of the way they hung in there.”

Tuthill rushed for 52 yards, while Outzen gained 44 yards and Denman picked up 34.

“They showed a few glimpses of what they can do, but we’ve got to have more,” Griffiths said.

Up next for Destin is a road trip to Niceville on Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. game against the Ruckel Rams at the Niceville High Stadium.