DRAFFENVILLE – It was a game on their schedule they really wanted to win and through the third quarter, the Marshals looked in a good position to do just that leading 17-13 but 27 straight points by Graves County were not answered by the Marshals except for a final touchdown with eight minutes left in the game that was followed by another touchdown by Graves County for the 47-23 win.
“I thought coming out of the half we were able to get a stop and get a score off of special teams, but any kind of momentum we had we gave it right back to them”, Head Coach Evan Merrick said. “In a game like this, it’s going to be back and forth and you’ve got to be ready for that and I think they were.”
The Marshals got on the board first on a 27 yard field goal by Daniel Gardner, a score that would hold until four minutes until halftime when a high snap over the head of Marshall quarterback Skyler Smith led to a Graves County fumble recovery near the Marshals 20 yard line and a 2-yard touchdown run by Dakota Dixon for a 6-3 Eagles lead.
Marshall County moved the ball 19 yards on their next possession to their 39 yard line and on 3rd and 8 the Eagles were called for pass interference that gave the Marshals the ball on the Graves County 47.
Taking advantage of the penalty, on the next play Smith connected with Lucas Forsythe for a 53 yard touchdown and 10-6 lead following the extra point kick by Gardner with just over a minute left until halftime.
Graves County made the most of that minute going downfield for a 14 yard touchdown run by Mason Gargus and extra point tacked on by Rodrigo Garcia to lead 13-10 at halftime.
Marshall County took the lead back early in the 3rd quarter when the Marshals defense stopped the Eagles at the five yard line forcing them into a field goal attempt which was faked then fumbled. Tristen Prange picked up the fumble and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown and a 17-13 lead.
The lead was short-lived as the Eagles sucked the momentum right out of the Marshals on a 92 yard kick return by Dixon and 19-17 lead.
Another high-snap fumble recovered by the Eagles resulted in a seven yard touchdown run by Hunter Grant to go up 26-17 and they would go on to score two more times on a 25 yard touchdown run by quarterback Ryan Mathis and 10 yard touchdown run by Jared Mills to lead 40-17 with four minutes left in the 3rd quarter.
The Marshals final score came on a 38 yard touchdown run by Colton Lampley and failed two point conversion to trail 40-23. Graves added one more touchdown on a one yard run by Dixon, his third touchdown in the game, for the 47-23 win.
“They’ve got to be able to know how to handle success”, Merrick said. “That’s something that we’re trying to build around here. Something that’s new to us and Graves is a team that has the confidence going in we’re trying to build that here and in time we’re going to get that done.”
The Eagles won the 5A District 1 Championship last year advancing to the state championship game. This was the 10th straight victory for Graves County over the Marshals.
“This loss hurt us. This is a game we wanted to win, but you can’t define your season on one game. We’ve got two district games left against two very good football teams. We’ve got fall break to get our kids ready and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Total yards:
MC 200 (54 rushing, 146 receiving)
GC 279 (150 rushing, 129 receiving)
Rushing leaders:
MC: Nelson 14-33, Lampley 6-54 (TD)
GC: Dixon 25-83 (3 TD’s), Mathis 9-54 (TD)
Receiving leaders:
MC: Forsythe 7-107 (TD)
GC: T. Grant 3-59, H. Grant 4-71 (TD)
Passing:
MC: Smith 11-20 (121 yds., TD, Int.)
GC: Mathis 9-15 (162 yds., 2 TD’s, Int.)
