Marysville opened with a 39-6 win over Marion Harding before losing four consecutive games entering last Friday's OCC-Cardinal Division contest against Westerville Central.

Injuries on the offensive line, to its starting quarterback (Luke Fleming) and to its starting running back (Hayes Chrispin), have resulted in a decline of output. In five games, the Monarchs are averaging 21 points, but in the last three games, that productivity has dropped to 10.7.

"Our offensive line has not had the same five guys in any game," Marysville coach Jeff Gafford said. "We need to have the same lineup and then we can get more consistency and we'll have more weapons. We haven't approached the efficiency of last year even with eight starters back on offense. Having everyone back will make a big difference."

Despite the offensive struggles, the Monarchs defense has steadily improved after losing to Groveport 55-34 on Sept. 4. Marysville's allowed 19.7 points per game the last three games entering last Friday.

"We were bad early," Gafford said. "We were young. We had to replace eight on defense. Now, we're making teams work by giving up fewer big plays. Against Olentangy (Sept. 25), we allowed only three plays over 25 yards. The defense is getting better, we're allowing fewer big holes, squeezing the running lanes and tackling better."

The Monarchs play their second-to-last home game Friday when they welcome Westerville South. The Wildcats opened the season by losing to Hilliard Davidson 21-20 on Aug. 29 and Watterson 16-10 on Sept. 4.

South entered last Friday's game against Dublin Jerome on a three-game winning streak. The winning streak is in conjunction with the Wildcats' key offensive players returning from injuries. Senior quarterback Jonathon Jennings missed the team's first four games with a broken clavicle. Jennings made his debut Sept. 25 in a 34-9 win against Dublin Scioto. The 34 points was a season-high for the Wildcats.

In Jennings' place, tailback Jayshan Jackson has led the offense with five 100-yards games entering last Friday.

"We're improving defensively, our special teams were better and we're getting healthy on offense finally," Gafford said. "Hopefully that will get things going for us again."

•The boys golf team competes at a Division I sectional tournament Tuesday at the Granville Golf Club.

On Sept. 23, Marysville played the fourth and final round of the OCC-Cardinal tournament at the Granville Golf Club when the Monarchs shot a 345 to finish seventh behind champion Dublin Jerome (305).

Marysville finished seventh at 3-25 in the conference behind champion Jerome (28-0), Olentangy Liberty (24-4), Westerville Central (19-9), Dublin Scioto (13-14-1), Olentangy (13-15) and Westerville North (10-17-1) and ahead of Westerville South (1-27).

The top three teams and the top three individuals not on a qualifying team advance to a district tournament Oct. 13 at Apple Valley. Last season, Marysville finished eighth (338) behind champion Pickerington North (302) as Danny Kerr shot an 81, followed by Tyler Wirtz (83), Ryan Hayes (87) and Alex Miller (87).

Kerr missed qualifying for the district tournament by one stroke.

"We have a pretty good possibility to advance someone to the district tournament," coach Bob Ludwin said. "I like how the draw went. Any of our top three golfers in Danny Kerry, Alex Miller or Kurt Oakley."

Also at Granville Golf Club are top-seeded St. Charles and third-seeded Mount Vernon.

"After that it jumps to 20," Ludwin said. "So there's a gap."

In addition, Ludwin said his team has grown accustomed to playing Granville Golf Club and its small greens.

"It's not a tricky course. You just have to get used to the greens," Ludwin said. "Because they are so small, we are going to miss some greens. We have to keep the ball in play, which we've been doing, and our shot game has to be solid."

At a glance

Below are recent results and coming schedule for the Marysville boys golf, boys soccer, cross country, football, girls golf, girls soccer, girls tennis and volleyball teams:

BOYS GOLF

• Sept. 26 -- Finished 14th (347) at the Hilliard Invitational at Heritage won by St. Charles (303).
• Tuesday -- At Granville Golf Club at a Division I sectional tournament. The top three teams and the three low-scoring individuals not on a qualifying team advance to a district tournament Oct. 13 at Apple Valley Golf Course.

BOYS SOCCER

• Sept. 26 -- Defeated Jonathan Alder 2-0
• *Last Tuesday -- Lost to Dublin Jerome 4-0
• Last Saturday -- Played Hilliard Bradley
• *Tuesday -- At Westerville North

Of note: The Monarchs were 6-6 overall before last Saturday and are 2-3 in the OCC-Cardinal.

CROSS COUNTRY

• Sept. 26 -- Boys: Finished 10th (259) at Pickerington Central's Tiger Invitational won by New Albany (67); Girls: Finished sixth (111) at Pickerington Central's Tiger Invitational won by Pickerington North (73). Brooke Brown finished fifth (21:11.56).
• Last Saturday -- Competed at Blue Devil Invitational at Sharpsville (Pa.) Senior

FOOTBALL

• *Last Friday -- Played Westerville Central
• *Friday -- Home vs. Westerville South. Last season, Marysville won 24-14.

Of note: The Monarchs were 1-4 overall and were 0-2 in the OCC-Cardinal before last Friday.

GIRLS GOLF

• Sept. 29 -- Finished first (179) at Marysville Golf Club ahead of Dublin Coffman (181), Olentangy Orange (184) and Thomas Worthington (230).
• Tuesday -- At Mill Creek at Division I sectional tournament. The top three teams and three individuals not on a qualifying advance to the district tournament Oct. 13 at Bent Tree.

GIRLS SOCCER

• Sept. 26 -- Lost to Olentangy Orange 1-0
• *Last Monday -- Tied Olentangy at 1
• *Last Tuesday -- Lost to Dublin Jerome 4-1
• Last Saturday -- Played Reynoldsburg
• *Tuesday -- Home vs. Westerville North

Of note: The Monarchs were 6-4-3 overall before last Saturday and are 1-3-1 in the OCC-Cardinal.

GIRLS TENNIS

• *Last Tuesday -- Lost to Dublin Scioto 5-0
• Last Thursday -- Lost to Marion Harding 5-0
• Last Saturday -- Competed at OCC-Cardinal tournament
• Monday -- At Delaware
• Saturday -- At Hilliard Davidson, Pickerington Central or Upper Arlington at a Division I sectional tournament. The top four singles and top four doubles teams advance to the district tournament Oct. 16-17 at Davidson.

Of note: The Monarchs were 5-10 overall before last Saturday.

VOLLEYBALL

• Sept. 26 -- Finished third at home Round Robin Invitational. The Monarchs lost to Canal Winchester 25-14, 25-14 and lost to Olentangy Orange 27-25, 23-25, 25-19 before defeating Eastmoor Academy 25-13, 25-18.
• *Last Tuesday -- Def. Olentangy 25-14, 25-22, 25-17
• *Last Thursday -- Lost to Westerville Central 25-17, 25-17, 25-17
• *Tuesday -- At Westerville South
• *Wednesday -- Home vs. Dublin Jerome

Of note: The Monarchs are 5-12 overall and 3-7 in the OCC-Cardinal.

*OCC-Cardinal contest