On their very first play from scrimmage, Murray gained 50 yards on a pass from quarterback Hunter Utley to Mark Thompson followed by a two yard run by Dijon Miles for a quick 7-0 lead. Marshall County fumbled the ball on their first possession and Murray quickly scored on a nine yard pass from Utley to Jaiden Jackson and before even one first down, the Marshals found themselves trailing 14-0 with nearly six minutes still left in the first quarter.
Both teams fumbled the ball away on their next possessions and then exchanged punts which was followed by another Marshall County fumble recovered by the Tigers that set up a toss from Utley to a wide-open Miles for a 72 yard touchdown and 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. Murray went up 27-0 on their next 65 yard drive, scoring on an 11 yard pass from Utley to Tommy Waldrop.
Tyler Stevenson’s 52 yard return on the kick-off to the Murray 38 yard line gave the Marshals an excellent opportunity to score, but another fumble on the very next play gave the ball back to the Tigers. The Marshals would get it back with little time left in the half but went to work, getting a couple of nice gains by Austin Riley and a two yard touchdown run by Ty Buchmeier with 12 second remaining. The extra point attempt was blocked but the Marshals were on the board trailing 27-6 at halftime.
The Marshals fumbled on their first possession of the second half, and Murray drove the short 25 yards to score on a one yard run by Thompson for a 34-6 lead. The Marshals scored their second touchdown at the end of the third quarter on a three yard run by Isaac Stevenson. The 63 yard drive began on a gain of 17 by Riley with another 15 yards tacked on from a horse collar penalty on Murray and a 30 yard pass from Tyler Stokes to Dawson Smothers. The PAT was good by Austin Stockdale and the Marshals trailed 34-13 at the end of the third quarter.
Murray scored their sixth touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 42 yard run by Thompson. The Marshals answered with a 63 yard touchdown pass from Stokes to Riley with 3:54 remaining on a 41-20 Murray lead. A 63 yard drive that ended in a 23 yard touchdown run by Thompson gave the Tigers their final touchdown of the game in the 48-20 win.
Murray’s nearly 370 yards in offense was split between the air and the ground with 206 yards passing and 163 yards rushing. The Tigers were led in rushing by Thompson who had 79 yards on six carries and scored three touchdowns. Utley completed 13 passes for 206 yards, three for touchdowns. The Marshals had 269 yards in total offense, 223 on the ground on 46 carries, led by Riley with 132 yards on 13 carries. Stokes was 2 for 3 in pass completions for 46 yards.
This was Murray’s first win over the Marshals since the 2015 season and they improve to 3-2 while the loss drops the Marshals to 3-2. Marshall County will begin district play next Friday at home against Christian County (2-2) who will be coming off a bye week Friday.
Rushing: Marshall 223, Murray 163
Passing: Marshall 46, Murray 206
Marshall rushers: Riley 13/132 (TD), Wyatt 9/37, Stevenson 6/29, Buchmeier 8/21
Murray rushers: Thompson 6/79 (3 TD), McCallister 5/49, Miles 7/33
Marshall passing: Stokes 2/3 46 yards
Murray passing: Utley 13/20 206 yards (3 TD)
Marshall receiving: Smothers 1/30, Riley 1/16
Murray receiving: Duffy 6/82, Miles 1/72
