DRAFFENVILLE – Marshall County played the #2 ranked Christian County Colonels Friday in their first district contest following a 3-game win streak in a game that Head Coach Evan Merrick said was “a measuring stick game for us.”
In their 30th meeting on the gridiron dating back to 1979, Christian County came into the game Friday 4-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of #1 ranked Bowling Green and they handed the Marshals their second loss of the season, winning 40-13.
“First half we did a lot of good things”, Merrick said. “We’ve got to find ways to put points in the end zone when we get inside the 40.”
After receiving the opening kick, the Marshals were forced to punt on their first series with the ball landing into the hands of Christian County’s Keyron Catlett who returned the punt down to the 3 yard line. The Colonels scored a touchdown on a short run by Trequan Haskins-Taylor and extra point kick by Koby Silvey good for the early 7-0 lead.
The Marshals next drive began at their own 25 yard line and they drive 75 yards for a touchdown by Mason Green who battled his way for 14 yards into the end zone. The extra point kick was good by Daniel Gardner to tie the game 7-7 with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter.
A good kick-off by Gardner was picked up at the one yard line by Christian County’s Catlett who made his way back out to the 25 yard line, setting the Colonels up for their second touchdown of the game on a 75 yard drive that was capped off by a 15 yard touchdown run by quarterback Kolbe Langhi. Taylor ran the ball in for the 2-point conversion and a 15-7 lead.
Christian County went up 22-7 with 1:34 remaining in the second quarter on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Langhi to Kenneth Major and held that lead until halftime.
Attempting the on-side kick to open the second half, the Marshals would give the Colonels great field position at their 44 yard line and on the first play of the series, Langhi was picked off by Trevor Fisk who heads to end zone, only to be called back on a defensive holding penalty on the Marshals but they would retain possession and turn it into points on a 33 yard field goal by Gardner to cut the Colonels lead 22-10.
Christian County put six more points on the board to lead 28-10 on a 2-yard run by Langhi and a 2-point converstion attempt that failed. The Marshals next drive began at their 24 yard line and resulted in a 42 yard field goal by Gardner that cut the Colonels lead to 15.
Christian County scored twice in the next 17 seconds to open the fourth quarter, the first on a 3-yard carry by Langhi and the second followed a fumble by Austin Riley on the kick-off return that the Colonel turned into points on their first play from scrimmage on a 29 yard pass from Langhi to Taylor and a 40-13 lead that would hold until the end of the game despite a good drive by the Marshals that began from the six yard line, making it down to the Colonels 33 before time ran out.
The Marshals have hit the halfway point of the season with a record of 3-2 and will head to Graves County for their second district game against the Eagles.
“This is a pride game for us with them being a rivalry and a district game on top of that”, Merrick said of next week’s game. “We’ve got to go on the road for the first time in a while and I think we can invite that. Home’s been good to us, it’s time to put the road to the test once again.”
Tristen Prange, Austin Riley and Dalton Nelson all left Friday’s game with injuries which the Marshals will hope are temporary and the three will be ready for Friday against the Eagles. Graves County picked up their first district win Friday 51-28 over Apollo.
Game Stats:
First Downs: Marshall 14, Christian 17
Penalties: Marshall 10/90, Christian 10/78
Total Yards: Marshall 279, Christian 310
Rushing: Marshall 40/142, Christian 26/142
Marshall: Green 18/76, Nelson 18/55, Garland 5/16
Christian: Langhi 9/75, Taylor 14/51
Passing: Smith 9/16 (136), Langhi 15/22 (168, 2 TDs, 1 INT)
Marshall: Forsythe 3/35, Prange 3/63, Utley 1/15, Green 1/19, Nelson 1/17
Christian: Catlett 6/85, Ray 4/30, Long 2/29
Scoring: Marshall – Green 1 TD, Gardner 2 FG, 1 Extra Pt.
Tackles: Marshall – Grant Johnson 14 solo/16 assists, Utley 4 solo/9 assists
