HOPKINSVILLE – Marshall County and Christian County met on the grid iron for the 29th time Friday at the Stadium of Champions with their last contest in 2006 when Christian County won 31-24. Christian County has just one loss this season to Bowling Green and beat Hopkinsville 42-28 last week and this was the district opener for both teams.
The Marshals were going without their leading rusher Dalton Nelson and Josh Brown, both resting from concussions suffered last Friday against Murray as well as Collin Gunn.
The Marshals elected to receive the opening kick and without a first down, forced to punt only to see Christian County’s Keyron Catlett return the punt 70 yards for a touchdown. The point after attempt was no good for a 6-0 Colonel lead.
Turning the ball back over on a punt on the Marshals next possession, the Colonels blocked the punt picked up by Keyvon Sells who went 18 yards for a touchdown for a 13-0 Christian County lead, all courtesy of their special teams.
The Marshals would have another punt blocked which was covered up by Marshall punter Cameron Thurman, giving the Colonels the ball on the 10 yard which set up Catlett for his second touchdown of the game with 1:55 to go in the first quarter and a 19-0 Christian County lead.
Marshall County picked up their first 1st down of the game on a 14 yard pass reception from Skyler Smith to Trevor Fisk. The Marshals would go for it on 4th and 1 and get the 1st down as the first quarter ended but faced another 4th down at the Christian County 46 yard line that would be unsuccessful giving the Colonels the ball on their own 45 yard line, going on to score again on a 27 yard pass from Kolbe Langhi to Ziyon Kenner for a 25-0 lead following another missed PAT by Christian County.
The Colonels scored again in the second quarter on a 50 yard pass from Langhi to Catlett for his third TD of the game and a 32-0 lead at halftime.
Receiving the second half kick, the Colonels would drive 86 yards, scoring on a two yard run by Trequan Taylor and extra point kick good to lead 39-0 with 7:52 left in the quarter.
With a running clock in place, the Marshals turned the ball over again on a punt but held the Colonels offense forcing a punt that set the Marshals up at their own 12 yard line as time ran out in the third quarter.
The Marshals would punt again to Christian County but would get the ball back, getting a couple of nice runs by Colton Lampley for first downs, down to the Colonels 33 yard line. Blake Harrison and Lampley combine to get the first downs and inside the red zone for the first time in the game.
Lampley rushed to the 10, then to the three yard line and took it in for the touchdown with 3:57 to play. The extra point attempt was good by Daniel Gardner to get on the board trailing 39-7.
Christian County’s Catlett wasn’t done for the night, returning the ensuing kick-off 97 yards for a touchdown, giving the Colonels the 46-7 win.
In post-game comments, Marshall County Head Coach Evan Merrick said there were many positives to take from the game and looks to the next week to get players healthy and ready for a home game against Graves County.
The Marshals picked up 11 first downs and had three penalties for 35 yards. Christian County had five first downs and seven penalties for 60 yards. The Colonels led in yardage with 196 to 176 for the Marshals. The Marshals had 145 yards on the ground while the Colonels led in the air.
After three straight road games, the Marshals will be back home next Friday against Graves County. The Eagles beat Apollo 30-13 Friday to advance their record to 3-3.