If the Decorah Vikings sent a spy to Thomas Park Friday to get the scoop on Marion's new spread passing attack, he undoubtedly went home with an empty notebook.

The Marion Indians stuck to the basics and squashed Mount Pleasant, 40-0, in a non-district game to open the 2013 football campaign.

Coach Tony Perkins wants to throw the ball this season, but the Indians rushed the ball 48 times for 328 yards and threw only nine times against the out-matched Panthers.

"All in all," Perkins said philosophically, "you go back to what you do best."

Marion will pay a visit to mighty Decorah next Friday, looking for payback for a 35-0 loss to the Vikings last season. Decorah captured the Class 3A title last year with a perfect 14-0 record, so Perkins saw no reason to tip his offensive hand.

Colton Mowry lugged the ball 18 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns on a hot, steamy night. Trevor Hardman completed only 4 of 9 passes for all 101 yards, all to Quinton Cannoy, as the Indians rolled up 429 yards of total offense.

Mount Pleasant collected only 68 yards and four first downs the entire game. The Panthers finished with eight yards on the ground and 60 yards through the air against the stingy Indians.

"We'll take that every time," said Perkins.

The Indians are not fooling themselves, however. They know they'll face a huge challenge next week at Decorah.

"Decorah is going to be a good team overall. They're always going to be a good team," said Hardman. "We're ready for them.

"We've got a lot of emotion built up from last year and we're ready to go out and get them. But we've got a lot of work to do, because we can't make all these mistakes that we made this game."

Marion fumbled eight times and lost two of those slippery pigskins. The Indians reached the 3-yard line and the 4-yard line on two different possessions in the first quarter but failed to score either time, resulting in a scoreless tie after the first 12 minutes.

The dam began to burst early in the second quarter when Marion linebacker Nick Kramer recovered a Mount Pleasant fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and 6-0 lead. "I just jumped on it at the bottom of the pile and held on," said Kramer.

Hardman hit Cannoy with a 37-yard touchdown pass and Mowry scored on a 10-yard run to make it 21-0 by halftime. Logan Fuller scored on a 9-yard scamper, Mowry tallied on a 5-yard run and Carter Stigge scored on a 14-yard run in the second half as the Indians pulled away.

Mowry was a sweaty but happy guy after the game with his 162 yards and two TDs.

"Oh my gosh," he said. "At the beginning of the game it was really hot. We were dripping everywhere. I'm drenched right now.

"It's a confidence-booster for sure," he said of his big name. "I like it, but I couldn't do it without my line. They were were taking them and driving those guys everywhere."

Fuller scooted for 59 yards on seven carries for Marion. Hardman finished with 32 yards on six carries.

Next stop: Decorah.

"It will be tough competition," said Kramer, "but we're going to try our hardest and see what we can do to hold them and hopefully we come out with a win."

MARION 40, MOUNT PLEASANT 0
MP    MAR
First downs      4      22
Rushes-yards    30-8    48-328
Passing yards     60      101
Comp-Att-Int    3-5-1    4-9-0
Fumbles-lost      2-2      8-2
Punts-avg.    5-42.8    1-5.0
Penalties-yards     8-62     8-70

Mount Pleasant  0   0   0   0 -  0
Marion              0  21   6  13 - 40

Scoring plays

MAR - Nick Kramer fumble recovery in end zone (Ben Kroemer kick)
MAR - Quinn Cannoy 37 pass from Trevor Hardman (run failed)
MAR - Colton Mowry 10 run (Mowry run)
MAR - Logan Fuller 9 run (run failed)
MAR - Mowry 5 run (Kroemer kick)
MAR - Carter Stigge 14 run (kick failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing
Mount Pleasant - Remick 10-31, Larson 12-23, White 1-minus 6, Gwamma 1-minus 10, Amos 6-minus 30.
Marion - Mowry 18-162, Fuler 7-59, Hardman 6-32, Brown 2-14, Stigge 1-14, Schnieders 2-12, Carstensen 3-11, Murphy 2-8, Young 3-7, Gardner 1-6, Mohwinkle 2-2, Meister 1-1.

Passing
Mount Pleasant - White 2-3-1-29; Amos 1-2-0-31.
Marion - Hardman 4-9-0-101.

Receiving
Mount Pleasant - Knudsen 2-42, Phillips 1-18.
Marion - Cannoy 4-101.