MURRAY – Marshall County knew it would be a tough game coming in after Murray lost their first two games at home, looking to stop that streak against the Marshals and on Homecoming night for the Tigers.
With their running game mixed up among three players and quarterback DesJahvonni Miles hitting his targets 7 of 11 times for 196 yards, the Tigers picked up their first home win of the season 38-7.
The Marshals received the opening kick, but unable to go the 10 yards for a first down, set Murray up with excellent field position on the punt going on to put their first points on the board two plays later on a 25 yard run from Malik Britt for a 6-0 lead after the extra point kick by Matthew D’Elia was blocked by Collin Gunn.
On their next possession, following a nice kick return by Mason Green and some good rushing yardage from Green and Dalton Nelson, the Marshals faced 3rd and 3 from the 12 yard line, pulling the Tigers off-sides for the 1st down. Getting the ball a little further to the six yard line, the Marshals were unable to score and on 4th and 4, a quarterback sack by Murray ended the drive.
The Marshals stalled out Murray’s next drive briefly, dropping them for a loss, a 10 yard penalty and nice pass coverage by Trevor Fisk before Miles connected with Isiah Tucker on an 89 yard touchdown pass for a 13-0 lead with 47 second left in the first quarter.
“I felt like we were battling the first quarter for control of the game”, Head Coach Evan Merrick said. ”
Murray scored two more times in the second quarter on a 10 yard pass from Miles to Jumonte McClure with a failed two-point conversion and a 45 yard run by Andrew Pajor to lead 26-0 at halftime.
Murray scored twice in the third quarter on a one-yard run by Tucker and an interception by defensive lineman Trent Jones who took the ball 39 yards into the end zone for a 39-0 Tiger lead.
Good field position for the Marshals to end the third quarter carried over into the fourth as they were able to drive to the 16 yard line before a fumble turned the ball back over to the Tigers.
Emotions were high for the Marshals in the fourth quarter following injuries by Collin Gunn, Josh Brown and Tristen Prange. Gunn left the field by ambulance early in the second quarter as did Prange early in the fourth quarter.
The Marshals recovered a fumble with 6:53 left in the game that was followed up by nice carries from Zach Garland and Joe Roath that set up a one-yard touchdown run by Garland and extra point from Daniel Gardner to avoid the shutout.
“I thought the kids played hard to the very end, even against some adverse situations that were outside of our control and what you have to take from that is, this helps us get into district play”, Merrick said. “We’ve got to regroup obviously and find a way to use this going forward.”
“We put guys in different spots out of position due to injuries. Collin Gunn has been a stable kid for us on both sides of the football, not only as far as physical ability but what he can do as far as putting kids in spots. He’s like a coach on the field for us relaying information. Not having him there was huge.”
“Then Tristen Prange carried off on a stretcher was emotional but at the end of the day I think our kids responded well to an emotional circumstance.”
The Marshals had 149 yards of total offense, 140 on the ground led by Mason Green with 16 carries for 52 yards, Dalton Nelson was 15/44 and Zach Garland 4/33 and a touchdown. Smith was 1/5 hitting Lucas Forsythe for a 9 yard reception. Eddie Morris led in tackles with 7 joined by Jacob Mason and Cameron Thurman each with 6.
Murray had 354 yards in total offense, 158 on the ground by Pajor who was 5/66, Miles 8/31 and Malik Britt 4/52. Miles was 7/11 in the air for 196 yards hitting McClure 3/99 and Tucker 1/89.
The Marshals had 11 first downs to 10 for Murray, were penalized 7 times for 71 yards while Murray racked up 12 penalties for 110 yards.
District play begins for the Marshals next Friday as they make their third straight road trip to Christian County. The Colonels are 4-1 following Friday’s 42-28 win over Hopkinsville.
INJURY REPORT
According the Head Coach Evan Merrick, Collin Gunn was checked out at Orthopedic Institute this morning for a possible shoulder AC dislocation and Tristen Prange checked out okay at the hospital and is expected to play next week.
