2004 Weekly Recaps

Mavs fall to Lobos, 40-15

KILGORE — Despite an early 15-0 lead, the Marshall High School football team fell to rival Longview 40-15 Friday in Kilgore.  Longview is ranked #7 in the current 5A poll.

The Mavericks started the game with a 16 play, 76-yard touchdown drive capped off by a three-yard run by Jackie Robinson. Robinson ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-0 Maverick lead.

After forcing Longview to punt, Marshall had an 81-yard drive capped off by a C.J. Byrd touchdown pass to Mario Walker for a 15-0 lead with 11:14 seconds left in the second quarter. But, the Mavericks (0-1) couldn't score again.

The Lobos (1-0) took the lead early in the third quarter with a six play 74-yard drive capped off with a six-yard touchdown run by Vondrell McGee. After the two-point conversion failed, Longview led 16-15.

McGee finished with 239 yards rushing while Chris Ivory added 144 yards on the ground for the Lobos.

For the Mavericks, who had six fumbles, losing three of them, Jackie Robinson led the way with 75 yards rushing.

C.J. Byrd had 102 passing yards at half-time, but finished the game with only 122 passing yards for the game. Byrd went 8-for-10 in the first half, but only 2-for-7 in the second half.

After the first two drives netted 157 yards for the Mavs, the team managed just 30 yards of total offense the rest of the game, including a second half that saw just two first downs, both on the team's first drive in the third quarter. That drive ended on the Longview 29 when Robinson committed one of his four fumbles in the contest.

"You can't turn the ball over in a ball game," Mav coach Rodney Southern said. "The fumbles in the second half obviously hurt us, but you can't hold it all on that. We have to execute better, both offensively and defensively, and we have to get in better shape. We're going to take care of those two areas."

Southern said his team needs to learn to finish games.

"We started good," Southern said. "But now we need to learn how to finish a game like that. But Longview is a good team — you have to give them credit."

The Mavericks host Huntington next week, 7:30 p.m. at Maverick Stadium

MONROE — For the second straight game, the Marshall High School football team cut down its fumbles. And for the second straight game, the Mavericks walk away with a win over a Louisiana team. The team played the role of spoiler in Monroe-Ouachita’s homecoming game, routing the Lions 49-21 Friday in Monroe.

The teams went back-and-forth through the first two quarters, with the Marshall up 21-14 with inside a minute to play in the half.

That’s when the Mavericks (2-1) scored when quarterback C.J. Byrd hit tight end Mario Walker for a touchdown with 0:54 left, putting the team up two scores.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Lion kick returner fumbled the ball — one of eight Ouachita (1-2) fumbles in the game — giving Marshall the ball at the Lion 20. On the next play, Byrd hit Jackie Robinson for a 20-yard touchdown pass to put the Mavs up 35-14 heading into the half.

On the play, Byrd was hit hard as he released the pass. After lying on the field for a couple minutes, he left under his own power and returned to play the second half.

Coach Rodney Southern said scoring the 14 points in 16 seconds was big.

"To get ahead of them by more than two scores was the key," Southern said. "Three scores make them have to change some of their thinking as to what they need to do."

In fact, the Lions offense sputtered in the second half, managing just 80 total yards after 170 in the first half.

And for the first time this year, the Mavericks scored points in the second half, when Byrd hit Walker for a 19-yard competition.

In all Byrd and Walker connected three times in the game, all for touchdowns. Walker had 62 yards in the game, while Byrd was 7-for-14 with four touchdown passes and 138 yards, but did throw one pick.

On the ground, Byrd had a huge first half, rushing for 108 yards, setting up Robinson’s 92-yard performance in the second half. For the game, Robinson ran 23 times for 127 yards, while Byrd had eight touches for 117 yards.

After having fumble problems the first two games, Robinson lost the ball just once in the contest.

"Jackie did an outstanding job of running with the football and protecting it," Southern said.

For the Lions, Kedrick Johnson had 120 first-half rushing yards, but finished the game with 179 on 19 carries. Sophomore quarterback Josh Strong, who had been running and throwing over defenses all year, was held to 55 passing and five rushing yards.

With the win, the Mavericks head into district play Friday in Jacksonville on a two-game winning streak.

"That was the kind of game we needed to play before district," Southern said. "You always want to eliminate your mistakes that you make, but other than that I thought we played well."

Tough loss

By EDWARD CARIFIO, Sports Editor- Marshall News Messenger

JACKSONVILLE —In the first two games of the year, the Marshall High School football team had problems executing in the second half.

The Mavericks, after a strong second-half showing last week, returned to early-season form, letting a 16-6 halftime lead slip away in a 20-16 loss in Jacksonville Friday to the Indians.

"We didn't stop them the second half," Maverick head coach Rodney Southern said of the team's District 17-4A opener.

The Mavs (2-2 overall, 1-1 district) led 16-13 early in the fourth quarter. The Indians (3-1, 1-0) faced a fourth-and-three on the Marshall 30-yard line when quarterback Trevelyan Canady broke containment in the backfield, scrambling six yards for the first down.

Canady finished with 96 yards on 11 carries.

"I think it all goes back to that same thing — they executed better than us the second half," Southern said. "They made a play there."

On the next play, Canady hit Aaron Whitaker for a 24-yard gain, putting the score at the eventual final.

It was Canady's only pass of more than 14 yards on the day. He finished 7-for-13 with an interception and touchdown, passing for 56 yards.

After the teams switched scoreless possessions, Marshall began driving late in the fourth, but quarterback C.J. Byrd threw an interception with 1:42 left in the game on a third-and-six from the Jacksonville 45.

Byrd finished the game 7-for-20 with 86 passing yards. He had an interception and a touchdown in the game. He rushed for 17 yards on 11 carries. The only other Maverick to get a carry was Jackie Robinson, who ran 24 times for 49 yards and a touchdown.

After 15 fumbles in three games, the Mavs fumbled twice Friday, only losing one. Both fumbles occurred in the first quarter.

"Jackie's done good as far as handling that," Southern said. "We'll continue to work on it, because it's something we work on every week, but we have to go back and work on just blocking and executing.?"

The first quarter was heading toward a scoreless tie, when Jacksonville, on a punt attempt from its 15, snapped the ball out of the end zone, giving the Mavs a 2-0 lead on the safety.

On the ensuing free kick, Marshall fumbled the ball on the return, leading to a 28-yard touchdown run by Canady in the second quarter. Kris Garcia blocked the extra point, but Jacksonville still led 6-2.

But the Mavs scored touchdowns on their next two possessions, both set up by Jacksonville turnovers.

Byrd hit Anthony Huffman on a 12-yard pass on a fourth-and-seven to give the Mavs the lead back at 9-6.

After Jacksonville fumbled away its first play on the ensuing possession, the Mavs scored, again on a fourth down, this time fourth-and-one when Robinson ran up the gut for five yards and a 16-6 Marshall lead.

Jacksonville cut the lead to 16-13 when Joseph Whitaker ran for one yard up the middle in the third quarter.

Mavs rumbled over Nacogdoches

Marshall High School football coach Rodney Southern worried his team would suffer an emotional letdown.

After all, his Mavericks dropped a 28-27 overtime heartbreaker to Kilgore at Maverick Stadium last week, and his team was taking the field for the first time since.

But the Mavericks calmed Southern's worries quickly — scoring two touchdowns on their first two possessions, as they rolled to a 41-0 road win over District 17-4A foe Nacogdoches.

 "This was a good game after a tough, tough emotional game last week," Southern said. "That was my concern — an emotional letdown. We didn't do that."

Any emotional baggage from the Kilgore loss — where the Mavs (3-3 overall, 1-2 district) missed a potentially game winning two-point conversion in overtime — was left in Marshall.

The Mavs came out quick on the Dragons (2-4, 0-3), marching 80 yards on their first drive capped off by a 1-yard run by Jackie Robinson, who finished the game with 182 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns.

On the team's next drive, Marshall needed just two plays to score, thanks to a screen pass that turned into a 65-yard gain for Justin Jones from C.J. Byrd. Byrd finished 190 yards on just 6-for-10 passing and three touchdowns.

After a scoreless second quarter, Marshall broke the game open with four touchdowns in the third quarter.

The defense came up with its second shutout for the Mavericks, the other a 40-0 win over Huntington in Marshall.

The Mavs held Nacogdoches quarterback Jamarcus Skillern 58 passing yards. Skillern, who entered as one of the top passers in the district, completed 6-of-16 passes with an interception.

The Dragons were forced to play the game without Jermane Washington, who was arrested Friday on marijuana possession. Washington led the district with a 7.7 yards-per-carry average.

Without Washington, senior Enrique Land led the Dragons with 82 yards on 13 carries. In all the Dragons managed 177 yards total offense, while the Mavericks has 225 rushing and 206 passing yards, and went with mostly backups in the fourth quarter.

And while Southern said it was a complete win, the Mavs still committed two turnovers, both on second-quarter fumbles, including one in the redzone with Marshall up just 14.

"We still can't turn the ball over," Southern said. "We turned the ball over twice in the first half. we can't do that, especially when we get down there inside the 7-, 8-yard line, wherever it was. But we did play a lot better the second half."

Mavs trounce Henderson

HENDERSON — Entering Friday's District 17-4A showdown, Marshall had the top-ranked passing defense in the district. Henderson had the top passing offense.

After Marshall's 45-0 drubbing of the Lions, not any more.

The Maverick secondary held quarterback Kylon Henderson to 57 passing yards — well less than the Lions' 186 passing yards per game average — en route to its second shutout win in a row.

"I think we took another good step tonight," head coach Rodney Southern said. "My goal coming in was to execute, and I thought we did that."

The Henderson passing game was clicking early, with Henson going 6-for-8 for 50 yards. However, the Mavs held the Lions run game in check, so the Mavs (4-3, 2-2) led 13-0 early in the second.

With the Lions (4-3, 2-2) driving, Mav defensive back Justin Mooney picked Henson on a first-and-10, setting up the third Marshall touchdown on a quarterback keeper by C.J. Byrd. The 13-yard run on third-and-four put the Mavs up 19-0.

On the first pass attempt of the ensuing Henderson possession, Justin Jones picked off Henson.

After the two picks, Henson went 3-for-5, but with just seven yards and no touchdowns. The leading receiver in the conference, Gabe Bagley, was held to 17 yards on two catches.

"I think the biggest thing was those two picks early in the first half," Southern said. "I think that set the tone. Again, we got enough pressure on the quarterback to where they couldn't do some things they wanted to do, and I think that hurt them. ... They threw us a couple balls, and we took advantage of them."

The Mav defense shut down any kind of Lion run attack, allowing just 54 rushing yards — including a 24 yard run to Henson after a number of Mav starters left the game. Henderson had three runs of 10 yards or more all game, all by Henson, who carried the ball 14 times for 48 yards.

The Mavs also clicked on all cylinders offensively, with three players gaining at least 80 yards rushing. Jackie Robinson led the way with 199 yards on 25 carries with three touchdowns. After the lead got out of hand in the fourth, Mooney came on at running back and gained 104 yards just eight carries, two going for touchdowns of 18 and 39 yards.

Byrd ran for 80 yards on eight carries.

Marshall scored on its first possession, marching 74 yards, capped by a 24 yard run by Robinson. After two plays on Henderson's first possession, Mav defensive end Billy Anderson scooped up a fumble and ran it in from 30 yards out for a 13-0 lead.

The Mavs lone score of the third quarter came on a five-yard run by Robinson.

Marshall returns home for a district battle with Pine Tree 7:30 p.m. Friday at Maverick Stadium

Mavs plundered the Pirates, 51-0

 137-0.

In the Marshall High School football team's two games entering Friday night's District 17-4A showdown with Longview-Pine Tree, the Mavericks outscored their opponents 86-0.

After the team's 51-0 dismantling of the Pirates at Maverick Stadium — along with a 41-0 win in Nacogdoches and a 45-0 win in Henderson — the Mavs have romped over their foes to a tune of 137-0 the last three weeks.

Coach Rodney Southern said that during that stretch — and even the 28-27 overtime loss to Kilgore that preceded the run — his team has been playing consistent football, which he feels is the key to a winning team.

"Even in the Kilgore game, a game we don't win, I thought we were consistent all night," Southern said. "We've been consistent the last few weeks, and we have to continue that."

Marshall (5-3 overall, 3-2 district) led 24-0 at the half, but exploded for three third quarter touchdowns — even though the offense ran just four plays in the quarter.

After the Mavs started the frame with a three-and-out, linebacker Kris Garcia intercepted Pirate sophomore quarterback Matt Hughes, returning the pick 10 yards for the score and a 31-0 Maverick lead.

Two plays into the ensuing Pirate drive, Leroy Osborne recovered a fumble by Hughes, giving the Mavs the ball at the Pine Tree 14-yard line. On the next play, C.J. Byrd ran the ball in for the score and a 38-0 lead — the two plays occurring 14 seconds apart.

The Pirates (1-7, 0-5) began driving on the ensuing possession, but it ended abruptly when Xavier Atich fumbled on a reverse. Jeremy Johnson scooped up the loose ball and ran in from 41 yards out for a 45-0 Mavs lead with 5:24 left in the third quarter.

Southern said it was important his team came out the way it did to start the second half.

"We haven't scored defensively, and it was big for us to score defensively," Southern said. "We have to play four quarters, and I thought we did that."

Justin Mooney added the final Maverick score on a 52-yard run with 7:37 left in the game. After that score, the clock ran continuously, not stopping for incomplete passes or anything else.

After 292 first-half yards — including 189 passing by Byrd — the Mavs finished with 398 total yards, but no more passing yards for Byrd, who went 0-for-1 in the second half after a 7-for-11 display in the first half. The team ran just 14 second-half plays — seven by the third-string offense in the fourth quarter. Many of those players, including quarterback Austin Hall and running back Corey Knight, saw their first varsity playing time of the year.

Jackie Robinson had 107 rushing yards on 13 carries to lead Marshall. He had 11 carries for 101 yards in the first half and scored twice in the contest.

Pine Tree managed 169 yards of total offense — 88 on the ground and 81 through the air. After a 7-for-10 start with 66 yards, Hughes went 1-for-9 for 15 yards and two interceptions to close out the game.

Marshall travels to Hallsville Friday for a clash with the Bobcats, a 20-3 winner against Nacogdoches Friday. The 7:30 p.m. game will most likely determine who takes third place and the final playoff spot in the district.

PLAYOFF-BOUND!  Mavs beat Bobcats

HALLSVILLE — Coaches often say one play can make a difference in a game.

But when the Marshall High School football team took on Hallsville here Friday night with third-place and the final District 17-4A playoff berth at stake, two plays made the difference in Marshall's 17-7 win.

Maverick running back Jackie Robinson broke off a 54-yard touchdown run — his only run of over five yards in the game — and Mario Walker forced a fourth-quarter fumble on a punt return to set up a late field goal in the victory.

And when all was said and done, it was the Mavericks (6-3 overall, 4-2 district) who walked away with a playoff spot.

"It's the best feeling in the world," said C.J. Byrd, the elated Marshall quarterback. "Knowing that we're going to the playoffs, it's the best feeling in the world. I got one word to describe it all — playoffs, baby, playoffs."

With the game tied at 7-7 and both offenses struggling early in the third quarter, Robinson broke through middle of the line of scrimmage for his 54-yard run with 9:14 left in the third quarter for a 14-7 Mav lead.

But neither team could do anything else offensively until, with 6:34 left in the game, Mario Walker forced Hallsville (6-3, 3-3) returner Zach Fox to fumble a punt return, which was recovered by Kris Garcia at the Hallsville 11-yard line.

Though Marshall had a fourth-and-one at the Hallsville 2-yard line, coach Rodney Southern decided to have senior kicker B.J. Somerford kick the 19-yard field goal as opposed to going for the first down — or touchdown — against a stingy Hallsville defense that surrendered 194 total yards in the contest.

"That may have been the difference in the ball game," Southern said. "The key is to go up two scores. I thought about going for the first down, but if we got the three there, they have to score twice to win the ball game, and I didn't think they could do that."

The loss all but eliminates the Bobcats from securing a postseason berth, leaving the squad out of the playoffs after a 5-0 start to the year.

"They're a very good team," Adams said. "We're not going to bow our heads or think anything bad of our team because we played a good team. I give all the credit to them, but we didn't move the ball when we had to and stop them when we had to.

"We're just heartbroken," he said. "These seniors devoted so many years to our program and we're heartbroken."

And while on paper the game was a matchup between the second- and third- leading backs in the district, each defense held the other team's back in check. Robinson had 15 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown, while Perkins ran 22 times for 72 yards. Both backs missed a small number of plays due to minor injuries, but both also returned quickly.

Byrd ran in the first score of the game, scoring on the first play of the second quarter on a 1-yard run to put Marshall ahead 7-0. Hallsville answered back two drives later when quarterback Ryan Gravitt ran in a 1-yard sneak.

And while the Bobcat offense drove 64 yards, the Mavs helped their opponents help, committing four penalties on the drive. Two of them came on third-down situations, extending the Bobcat drive. One was a pass interference on a third-and-15 from the Marshall 40, and the other was a personal foul after the Mavs stopped a Gravitt pass on third-and-six. 

Cruising On Through

MARSHALL—  With the Marshall High School football team playing its first meaningless game of the year-- a playoff berth was guaranteed regardless of the outcome-- coach Rodney Southern said his team played as if distracted by the playoff hoopla.

Still, the Mavs managed to cruise past Whitehouse 42-7 in the season finale for both teams Friday at Maverick Stadium.  Four Mavs had at least 40 rushing yards in the balanced offensive attack - 201 rushing yards, 200 through the air - as the Mavs beat the Wildcats to ensure a solo third place finish in district 17-4A.

Southern said his team played as if they were focused a little much on next Friday's class 4A Bi-District championship against Klein Oak in Spring, and not on beating the Wildcats (3-7 overall, 2-5 district).

"We made some mistakes, but 42-7 on the last game of the year, I'll take that", "with a tremendous about of things going on; a lot of talk about next week." Southern said.  "...but next we got out of it with nobody hurt and ready to go to the playoffs."

Since it's the first playoff trip since 1996 for the Mavs (7-3, 5-2), Southern said how to handle the situation was new to most of his players.

"It's very very difficult on kids, especially these kids, " Southern said.  "They haven't been there.  They haven't been to the playoffs.  They haven't been in a lot of these situations.  It's new for them.  but still, even with the way it was, it was still 42-7.  I'll take that."

Marshall started its first drive on the Wildcat 29, thanks to a fumble by QB Spencer Smith.  It was the first of 6 drives that would start in Whitehouse territory for Marshall, pluse two more that startred on the Mav 48.  Four plays later Robinson ran in his first three touchdowns for a 3 yard plunge up the middle for a 7-0 lead.

Robinson finished with just 5 carries for 50 yards.  He had two non scoring runs of 20 yards, plus 3 toughdown runs under 4 yards.

C.J. Byrd had the bulk of Marshall's offensive yards, passing for 200 yards and two TD's, missing just 5 of his 15 attempts.  Junior Osborne caught 5 of those passes for a team high 83 yards.  Seven Mav rushers combined for 201 yards on the ground, led by Cory Knight's 61 yards on 12 carries, including his first varsity score.

For Whitehouse, sophomore Luke Shivers ran 28 times for 142 yards and had the lone Wildcat score.  Smith had 118 passing yards and an interception.

SPRING — The Marshall High School football team sucked the momentum out of Klein Oak early in the first half in the teams' Class 4A Bi-District Championship game Friday.

And when Klein Oak looked to get back in the game in the second half, the Mavericks snuffed out a potential Panther rally as the Mavs rolled to a 38-7 win.

Marshall led 21-0 at the half and was set to receive the ball when Klein Oak attempted and recovered an onside kick. Five plays later, quarterback David Porter found paydirt on a 24-yard keeper and what would end up being the second-longest Panther play of the game.

But Marshall (8-3) answered right back when quarterback C.J. Byrd broke off a 70-yard run 11 seconds later to put the Mavs up 28-7. The Panthers (7-4) didn't score again.

"It changed the momentum from them right back to us," Southern said. "That put a little dagger in their hearts."

It wasn't the only big play the Mavs scored in the game. In the first quarter, Jackie Robinson broke off an 87-yard touchdown run for the first score of the game.

And on the last play of the third quarter, Byrd hit Junior Osborne for a 70-yard pass to put Marshall ahead by the final margin.

"When you make big plays, it makes it look a lot worse," Southern said. "That was a backbreaker, C.J.'s run. That puts them back at three scores, which is tough. Especially the way our defense has played."

Marshall tacked on two second quarter scores — a 3-yard run by Jackie Robinson and a 10-yard pass from Byrd to Mario Walker — to go up 21-0 at the half.

B.J. Somerford hit a 40-yard field goal in the third quarter for a 31-7 Mav lead.

The Mav offense clicked on all cylinders, amassing 456 yards of total offense. Byrd led the charge with 8-of-11 passing for 150 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 105 yards on six carries and a rushing touchdown.

Jackie Robinson led all rushers with 140 yards on 17 touches and two scores.

In all, the Mavs had five plays of 37 yards or more, while Klein Oak — which managed just 215 total yards — had no plays of that length. Its longest was a 34-yard halfback pass in the fourth quarter against a second-team Mav defense.

The Panthers were without star running back Bryce Hudman, who suffered an injury last week but was expected to play. He had three carries for three yards, all in the first quarter.

With the win, the Mavs will move to Kyle Field on the campus of Texas A&M next week where they will play Beaumont Ozen, who defeated Galena Park 61-14.

By EDWARD CARIFIO, News Messenger Sports Editor

COLLEGE STATION — Both special teams struggled through three quarters.

But the Marshall High School football team came up with a big special-teams play when it needed it, propelling the Mavs to a 33-19 win over Beaumont Ozen in the Class 4A Area Championship game Friday at College Station.

After Marshall scored early in the fourth quarter to open up a 27-19 lead, Panther star running back Jonathan Smith — who also returns kicks — caught the B.J. Somerford kick at the 4-yard line. Instead of running forward, Smith tried to turn the corner to the outside. But the Marshall defense swarmed Smith, dragging him down on the 2-yard line.

After quarterback Harry Gunner was nearly sacked in the endzone on the first play, the Marshall defense nailed Smith in the endzone. Instead of the two for the safety, Smith fumbled, recovered by linebacker Justin Smart for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, bringing the game to its final score.

A couple small special-team blunders — a pair of blocked extra points — nearly cost the Mavs early in what was panning out to be a close contest.

"It was obviously a big play," coach Rodney Southern said. "We've made some big plays on special teams all year. We can't let the little things hurt us."

Southern said those little things will improve.

"They made some big plays, but we got some things blocked," Southern said. "That's something we have to correct."

Marshall led by eight at the half, but Gunner hit Calvin Mickens for an 11-yard touchdown pass. A failed two-point conversion brought the score to 21-19.

Against a usually stingy pass defense, Gunner passed for 173 yards and two touchdowns, completing 12-of-27 passes with an interception.

Southern said he wasn't concerned by the Panther pass display — the team as a whole threw for 208 yards — because his team was keyed on stopping Smith, who finished with 168 yards on 23 carries and a score.

Just 22 seconds before the fumble recovery, Robinson — who finished with 167 yards on 33 carries — ran in from six yards out, but a blocked extra point kept the score within one touchdown at 27-19.

The Mav defense started strong, picking off Gunner on the Panthers' first offensive play. Byrd ran 16 yards on the next play, setting up a 1-yard Robinson run — three first-half touchdowns for the back.

Ozen tied the game on their next possession thanks to a 41-yard by Smith. The scoring flurry continued, with Robinson scoring on Marshall's ensuing drive from 13 yards out for a 13-7 Mav lead after Somerford had his first blocked kick.

Marshall went up 21-7 on Robinson's final score of the half, a four-yard run, with 0:51 left. But Ozen mounted a 71-yard scoring drive in just more than 30 seconds, capped by a 32-yard pass from Gunner to Wallace Franklin, to pull within 21-13 after Juan Pena's kick fell short.

The Mavs pulled of the win despite being outgained 424-314, including 208-86 through the air.

The Mavs will face the winner of the Houston Yates-Richmond Foster game 7:30 p.m. Friday at Waco ISD.

By EDWARD CARIFIO, News Messenger Sports Editor

Mavs in the semifinals with 28-7 win over Houston Yates

In the first half, it was quarterback C.J. Byrd.

In the second half, it was running back Jackie Robinson.

But for the game, it was the Marshall High School football team's defense that got the job done, not allowing a running back a gain of more than six yards in Marshall's 28-7 win over Houston Yates Friday at the Waco ISD field.

The win in the Class 4A Quarterfinals gives the Mavs a berth in the semifinals, to be played next week against the winner of tonight's Boerne-Harlandale game.

"We're two wins away from something I've always dreamed of," Byrd said, "finally getting a ring on that finger."

After a 14-0 Marshall halftime lead — even though the Mavs dominated the first half, outgaining the Lions (10-3) 229-32 in the half — Yates scored on its second possession of the second half, pulling to within one score.

On that drive, the Lions failed all three third-down conversions, but succeeded on all three fourth-down conversions.

But the Mavs (10-3) answered back, when Robinson ran in his first and only touchdown of the game from 14-yards out, giving the Mavs some breathing room. A late pass from Byrd to Anthony Huffman from 18-yards out brought the game to the final margin.

Byrd finished the game 7-for-11 for 120 yards and three touchdowns through the air — 102 in the first half — and with 78 yards on the ground. He ran for 80 in the first half, but negative-2 in the second half.

But with the defense keying on Byrd in the second half, Robinson rushed for 98 second-half yards, finishing with 157 on 28 carries.

"I think it was important because they were going to key in on me in the second half," Byrd said. "Because of that, Jackie probably ended up with about 100 yards in the second half."

And even though it wasn't his highest total of the year, head football coach Rodney Southern said he was impressed with Robinson's running.

"It wasn't his best numbers, but it was probably his best night running the football," Southern said.

But the defense played even bigger, allowing just 126 total yards to the Lions, stuffing their effective running game.

"We ran a lot of inside stunts, trying to put pressure on the quarterback because they were trying to stuff it up the middle," lineman Billy Anderson said.

That quarterback, Orie Lemon, managed just 26 yards on 19 carries with the team's only score — a 1-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal.

Still, Lemon finished as Yates' leading rusher, and was the only player with a run over six yards — reeling off two eight-yard runs on the team's first two plays from scrimmage, plus a 13-yarder in the second quarter.

Southern said his defensive coordinator deserves a lot of the credit for the stifling performance.

"I expect it now, because we've played it the whole way," Southern said. "Coach (Thedrick) Harris and our defensive staff — we're not going to get out-coached. We may get out played ... but we're not going to get out-coached."

Marshall had two first half touchdowns, both on passes for Byrd to tight end Mario Walker — from 8-yards out in the first quarter and 30-yards out in the second.

Southern said that he had not worked anything out with the Harlandale — coaches, but if Boerne — wins tonight, the teams will tentatively play 7:30 p.m. Friday at Waco ISD.  

By EDWARD CARIFIO, News Messenger Sports Editor

WACO — Sherman Brown’s interception return for a touchdown late in the game sealed a 21-3 Marshall win over Boerne here Saturday night at Waco ISD Stadium.

The Class 4A, Division I state semifinal victory sends the Mavericks into the state championship game against Ennis this Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

Brown’s interception was one of several against the Greyhounds.

With 6:38 left in the third quarter, Marshall took a 14-3 lead over the Greyhounds, thanks to a 79-yard blocked a field goal return by Justin Jones. He then stopped a Boerne drive by intercepting a pass at the Maverick 10-yard line.

And, with just over four minutes left in the fourth, Marshall prevented another Greyhound comeback attempt when Jones nearly picked off a pass on fourth-and-11, forcing the Greyhounds to turn the ball over on downs.

Marshall scored its first touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, when Junior Osborne ran 39 yards on a reverse, giving the Mavs a 7-3 lead.

The Mavericks had just 21 rushing yards in the first quarter, but got 103 in the second quarter.

Jackie Robinson, stymied for most of the half while managing just 29 yards on 10 carries, accumulated 32 yards on 13 carries with three minutes remaining. Quarterback C.J. Byrd put up 72 yards passing and 67 rushing.

Star Greyhound running back Jordan Cortez was held to just 39 yards on 12 carries.

Boerne kicker Russell Moldenhauer opened the scoring with a 31-yard field goal, his 20th of the season. Aside from putting the Mavs in their first deficit of the playoffs, the kick set a Texas high school record for most field goals in a season.

By Mavchamp, ET Supersite
December 11, 2004

IRVING, Texas- The 4A Division I State championship was picked by most outside of Marshall to be an Ennis blowout over the Mavericks.  But the 29,753 fans that showed up at Texas Stadium got an unexpected barn-burner.

It all came down to special teams in a game that was back and fourth all day long.

Ennis scored a touchdown and a safety on special teams in an 11-second span to beat Marshall 23-21 in the Class 4A Division I State Championship Texas Bowl.

The game was knotted up at 14-14 at halftime before Ennis took the lead with a third-quarter safety. Marshall fumbled the snap on a punt and the ball rolled out of the back of the end zone to put Ennis ahead 16-14.  It was the first time the Lions had lead in the game.

On the ensuing kick, Patrick Roberts ran 79 yards virtually untouched to extend Ennis' lead to 23-14 with 3:31 left in the third.

Marshall made a thriller of it, scoring a TD to make it 23-21 early in the fourth quarter.  Byrd scored on a 5-yard run after an unsportsman-like conduct penalty against Ennis on fourth down gave the Mavericks a fresh set of downs.

Marshall (11-4) had a chance late in the fourth quarter, driving to the Ennis 40 yardline with 30 seconds left in the game.  But C.J. Byrd was sacked, and with no timeouts left, the Mavericks couldn't get another play off.

The Mavs never gave up in the game, giving the highly favored Lions more of a game than most prognosticators expected.  Many statewide predictions outside of East Texas had Ennis winning by 3 or 4 touchdowns (or more).

Marshall led in the first quarter after Joel Willie scooped up a teammate's fumble and ran 40 yards for a touchdown. The fumble came after what looked like an incomplete pass by Byrd, but was ruled a fumble by a referee.  Marshall lead 7-0.

Jake Brown's 25-yard touchdown pass to Scotty Thornton with 4:52 left in the first tied the score at 7-7.

Leading 14-7 in the second quarter, Marshall drove down to the Ennis 7 yard line and was looking to go up 21-7 before halftime.  However, a fumble ended the TD threat for Marshall and may have saved Ennis' title hopes.  The Lions scored late in the second quarter to tie it up again 14-14 at halftime.  

Marshall had 19 first downs, to just eight by Ennis. And the Lions went four-and-out five times.

The Lions recovered two Marshall fumbles but were unable to convert them into points thanks to a stingy Maverick defense.

Brown was 13-of-25 for 94 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

Marshall running back Jackie Robinson finished with 160 yards rushing, 109 in the first half. More than half of Robinson's first-half yardage came on one series. He had runs of 15 and 40 yards before scoring on a 1-yard jaunt that gave Marshall a 14-7 lead in the second.

On the 40-yard run he looked to have been stopped at the line of scrimmage, but escaped would-be tacklers and dashed to the opposite side of the field before finding a hole making it to the 1-yard-line.

The win gave Ennis (13-2) its third state title in five years, fourth title overall.  The Lions won back-to-back crowns in 4A Division II in 2000 and 2001.

It was Marshall's first return to the title game after winning the 5A Division I championship in 1990.