2007 Weekly Recaps

Cypress Woods, a new Class 5A school in its second year of existence. Played only a JV schedule last season but is including three varsity games in its schedule this season.

Comprised mainly of juniors a few sophomores. The team went 9-1 in its first year with just freshman and sophomores.

As learning experiences go, this one was a doozy for the Mavericks, which fell to the junior-heavy, second-year Cypress Woods program at Ken Pridgeon Stadium in Houston Saturday night.

Head Marshall coach Thedrick Harris said he expected the Wildcats to put up a fight and fight they did, burying the Mavs 63-28 in a lopsided and often sloppy affair.

Cypress Woods dominated the first quarter, jumping out to an early 23-0 lead before the Mavs scraped together 21 second quarter points to close the gap at halftime to just eight points at 29-21.

Clearly irritated by Marshall's resurgence, the Wildcats came out wildly aggressive in the second half, scoring three consecutive third quarter possessions and tacking on a pair of fourth-quarter breakaways.

Cypress Woods quarterback Lucas Devilliers widened the Wildcats' lead to 56-28 on a 70-yard blast up the middle, followed two minutes later by a 58-yard scamper by running back Sean Oakes to arrive at the final.

Devilliers, a multi-talented quarterback, clearly as effective with his legs as his arms, finished the night 16-of-30 passing for 181 yards and chipped in 158 yards rushing on 16 carries.

Leading Wildcats' tailback Chris Walker handled the bulk of the rushing duties with 16 carries for 158 yards.

Marshall split its quarterback duties between Darius Jones and Jackson Hood. Both are able to scramble a bit when necessary, but the sluggish Marshall offense definitely seemed to come alive when Hood replaced Jones in the second quarter.

Hood finished the night 17-of-36 passing for 222 yards while Jones added one completion for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Andrew Clough led Marshall's ground offensive with 11 carries for 37 yards while K.D. Johnson added five carries for 9 yards. Each has a touchdown as well.

Jermaine Woolen led the Mavericks receiving corps, hauling in 10 passes for 133 yards.

The game began as sloppy as a high school football game gets. Officials were confused, teams were confused, calls were reversed and more penalties were marked off than a hockey game.

Cypress Woods was the clear beneficiary of the first quarter mayhem as the Wildcats amassed a 16-0 lead via a pair of first-quarter touchdowns and a safety made when a Cypress Woods kick slipped through the hands of at least five different players like a wet fish. The Wildcats recovered the loose ball on the back line of the Mavericks' end zone and after a brief conference of the officials ruled it a safety.

Earlier the Mavericks slit their own throats with a series of miscues and poor communication.

The Mavs very first possession of the game ended hideously when the ball was snapped while Jones was still calling out audibles, and recovered by the Wildcats at the Marshall 36-yard line.

Three plays into the Wildcats subsequent drive, Ryan Hall picked off a Devilliers pass and the tides seemed to turn – for just a second, though, as a late-called offsides penalty on Marshall not only gave the ball back to the Wildcats five-yards closer than before the interception, but gave Cy Woods a fresh set of downs.

They didn't need them all. Just one play later Devilliers shot straight up the middle to give the Wildcats an early 7-0 lead.

After a speedy four-and-out for the Mavs, Cy Wood made a 16-play, 75-yard trek back to the end zone. That drive featured three of the Mavericks nine first-half penalties, two of which renewed the Wildcats' downs. The third, a holding call, practically gift wrapped Cypress Woods' next score. After a third-down incompletion from 10-yards out, that defensive miscue put the ball on the Mavs 5-yard line. A smart shot from Devilliers to Jeremy Conley put the Wildcats up 14-0.

In Cypress Woods' first possession of the second quarter, a five-play passing series, the Wildcats padded their ever-growing lead off a 20-yard toss to running back Chris Walker, who ran right out of his shoe on the way to giving his team a 23-0 lead.

Although the Mavs appeared out-matched by a mile, a quarterback change seemed to breathe new life into the previously frustrated Marshall squad.

The Mavs next possession featured three complete passes by new signal caller Hood, one of which, a 35-yarder to Woolen, set up a 4-yard line-buster by Johnson.

After a high snap fumble by Cypress Woods was recovered by Marshall's Jose Rios, the Mavs closed the gap even further off a single-play, 36-yard score from Jones to receiver Dameon Smith.

Walker got one back for the Wildcats off a 22-yard rush but it wasn't long before the Mavs scored again, this time off a stellar reception by Jones who dove and rolled in the end zone catching a pass by Hood that appeared to be uncatchable.

Unfortunately for Marshall the hyper-aggressive Wildcats came out roaring, scoring twice in the third quarter to pad their lead to 43-21 with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Mavs will undoubtedly head back to the drawing board as the squad faces nemesis Longview 7:30 p.m. Friday at Maverick Stadium.

Longview Vs. Marshall

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Longview used a highly efficient offense to score early and often on short series to build a 21-7 halftime lead. Meanwhile the Mavs never got far beyond midfield until the tail end of the first quarter in a 22-play march that spanned nearly nine minutes and ended in disaster.

With less than a minute remaining on the clock in the second quarter, the Mavericks were poised to close a 14-point deficit with a first-and-10 at the 11-yard line following a crucial fourth-down conversion two plays earlier.

Unfortunately for Marshall, with just 20 seconds left in the first half, the Mavs turned a stroke of good luck into a turn for the worse. On a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line, the Lobos committed the first of two consecutive offsides penalties. But with no where for the ball to go, the penalty accomplished nothing but putting the Mavs in a time crunch.

Down to just 11 seconds left to score, a fumbled snap was recovered by Longview. The second offsides penalty gave Marshall one final chance to get past the 1-yard line, but they fumbled again. This time no penalty was called and Longview stripped the Mavs best chance to turn their nearly nine-minute march from their own 20 into points.

The Mavs next trip to the Lobo's territory ended with a failed field goal. By the time the Mavs got back into scoring position in the fourth quarter, the Lobos had widened their lead to 35-7.

Desperately needing some points, the Mavericks accumulated three first-downs en route to a first-and-10 at the Longview 11-yard line, but Hood's third interception killed a nine-play drive.

Then, with just minutes remaining in the Mavs final drive of the night, a personal foul pushed the Mavericks back from a first-and-goal at the 9-yard line. Two plays later one of Marshall's several bad snaps resulted in a 4-yard sack of then-quarterback Darius Jones and an incompletion on the next play, a four-and-goal, gave the ball back to the Lobos with just six seconds left.

Clough rushed 26 times for 98 yards to lead the Mavs' 207-yard ground attack. Jones and Hood combined for 9-of-19 passing for 173 yards. Hood's 26-yard completion to Dameon Smith just seconds into the second quarter provided the Mavs' only score of the night.

Longview's Johnny Garrett led the Lobos with 138 yards while Damion Lewis passed for 129 yards of the Lobos' 409 total net yards of the game.

Marshall Vs. Monroe Neville

Saturday, September 22, 2007

The Marshall High School football team overcame more than 130 yards in penalties to defeat Neville 30-23 at Bill Ruple Stadium in Monroe, La., Friday night.

The Mavericks (1-2 overall) jumped out to a 16-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and looked poised to run roughshod over the No. 12-ranked Tigers, but Neville (2-2) took the lead, albeit a brief one, off back to back scores in the second quarter – the first a 40-yard breakout by Neville running back Michael Graves, the second a 20-yard field goal by quarterback Will Hardy.

Marshall's ensuing possession began with a sack of quarterback Darius Jones who fumbled the ball out of bounds for a 3-yard loss. Two plays later a pass from Jones to Dustin Fitzgerald was fumbled but, luckily for Marshall, recovered for a 13-yard gain and the first down.

An unsportsman-like conduct penalty and another quarterback sack later the Mavs were in Tiger territory and faced with a fourth-and-6 at the Tigers' 42-yard line. A pass from Jones to Jermaine Woolen converted the down and gave the Mavs new life, but two plays later on a second-and-goal deep in Tiger territory time became a bigger issue.

With just six seconds left on the clock, the kicking team was trotted out for a 48-yard field goal attempt, but a botched snap forced holder Jackson Hood to think quick. Fortunately for the Mavs, Hood was the guy for the job as the sometimes-quarterback quickly tossed the ball to Fitzgerald in the end zone for the touchdown.

That quick, instead of taking a measly 19-17 halftime lead, the Mavs went into the locker room with a healthy 23-17 advantage. That swing in momentum carried Marshall as the team retained that lead for the remainder of the night.

The Mavs took their first lead of the night off a different botched snap when, with 8:28 remaining in the first quarter, the ball went flying over Hardy's head and into the end zone for a Marshall safety.

Up 2-0, Dameon Smith padded Marshall's lead of a 50-yard breakout run to give the Mavericks a 9-0 lead with 7: 26 remaining.

"The thing was we knew each week, if they got on track, they could make those big plays," said Marshall head coach Thedrick Harris. "We hadn't taken advantage of them (in the past), but tonight we did."

Graves got the Tigers' on the board with a breakout of his own, a 76-yard sprint at 6:31 in the first quarter. But for the most part the struggling Maverick defense did a much better job of controlling the line.

"We made some changes (defensively)," Harris said. "They popped off a couple but once we settled in I thought the defense did a good job."

Running back Andrew Clough led the Marshall ground attack with 25 carries for 163 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yarder late in the first quarter.

Jones added 80 yards on 14 totes while completing six passes for 65 yards. Smith led the Marshall receiving corps with three catches for 42 yards.

As a group, the Mavericks racked up an impressive 414 yards of total offense while the defense held Neville to 330 yards on the night.

The win is a big boost to the Mavericks morale as the squad closes out the pre-district portion of the season. The team plays host to Jacksonville 7:30 p.m. next Friday.

Jacksonville Vs. Marshall

It was a wild ride for the Marshall High School football team as everyone got in on the action, burying Jacksonville 55-14 in the District 12-4A opener at Maverick Stadium Friday night.

There were offensive scores, defensive scores, and even scores from the bench as the Mavs (2-2 overall, 1-0 district) proved their excruciatingly tough pre-district schedule was well worth the experience they gained.

The Mavericks scored on each of their four second-half possessions while the defense took care of business, holding the Indians (1-3, 0-1) to three-and-outs in each of their first three drives of the night and picking off quarterback Kyle Stacy three times.

Jared Gobert snagged Stacy's first two interceptions. The first he returned from about midfield to the 5-yard line. An illegal block in the back by Marshall backed the team up to the 32-yard line, but it took only three plays for starting quarterback Darius Jones to find Dustin Fitzgerald for a 23-yard score with just six seconds remaining in the first half to lift the Mavs' advantage to 27-7.

The Mavericks over came some third-quarter trouble, including a pair of costly penalties, converting a third-and-14 on a hook up from Jones to Woolen to set up a 2-yard touchdown by Andrew Clough.

Gobert ended the Indians next drive with his second pick and in the Mavs ensuing drive, with Jackson Hood in as quarterback, the squad proceeded on a seven-play march from their own 25-yard line. The series featured a recovered fumble and three more penalties, one of which brought what would have been a 54-yard rushing touchdown by K. D. Johnson back to the Mavs's own 41-yard line.

But even that didn't faze Marshall as Hood connected with Dameon Smith on the very next play for a 59-yard scoring pass to give the Mavs an insurmountable 42-7 lead with just less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Jacksonville closed the gap to 42-14 on their next drive, but were buried even further when Jones ran the kick off back 82 yards for a 48-14 Marshall advantage.

With a hefty lead and nothing to lose with less than two minutes to go in the final frame, the coaching staff brought out some of the second string, including J. C. Haigwood who almost single handedly ran a 10-play march from the Indians' 49-yard line, capping the series with an 11-yard run to close out the scoring and the Mavs' win in the process.

The madcap action began in the first quarter when Jones ran an option up the middle from the Indians 37-yard line. He was tripped up and fumbled as he hit the ground, but the ball bounced up and into the hands of Jermaine Woolen who ran the ball the final 30 yards to pay dirt for an early 21-7 lead.

The Mavs travel to Pine Tree 7:30 p.m. next Friday.

in search of a second district win to lift them above the .500 mark on the season.

Marshall Vs. Pine Tree

Saturday, October 06, 2007

LONGVIEW — It took Jackson Hood almost 46 minutes to see some action Friday night during Marshall's District 12-4A tilt with upstart Pine Tree.

Even then, the senior only got to take one snap from behind center.

It turned out, though, that one snap was all Hood needed to help the Mavericks sink the Pirates for the sixth straight season, by a final score of 27-14.

With Marshall (3-2, 2-0) clinging to a shrinking lead and less than two minutes remaining, Hood entered from the sideline, received a shotgun snap and calmly lofted a tight spiral to a streaking Darius Jones down the left side.

Jones caught the toss in stride and danced in for a 43-yard score that took the wind out of the Pirates' (3-2, 0-2) comeback sails, all but sealing the Mavericks' win, not to mention a spot at the top of the league standings with Henderson and Nacogdoches, who also won Friday.

The scoring connection capped a seven-play drive for Marshall and directly answered Pine Tree's previous possession, during which it reeled off a methodic 15-play, 70-yard march that ended with a touchdown pass from Dustin Farley to Ray Horton, which cut the Mavs' lead to 20-14 with 5:41 remaining.

Horton's drive-saving touchdown haul came on a fourth down-and-goal from the 3-yard line just a play after the Pine Tree senior dropped a sure touchdown on the same play call on third down.

The Pirates attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but the plan backfired after Marshall recovered the bouncer, setting the Mavericks up with a short field from the 50-yard line.

From there, five straight Andrew Clough carries picked up a pair of first downs and drained some precious minutes from the game clock before Hood provided the final blow.

Clough shouldered the bulk of Marshall's ground game, picking up a game-high 105 yards and a score — on a 3-yard push up the middle in the first — on 19 carries.

Jones balanced that out with 176 yards and two touchdowns on 6-of-13 passing. Both of Jones' touchdown throws were to Jeramiah Fisher, who finished with three catches for 110 yards, all of which came in the first half.

Jones also rushed for 46 yards, finishing with 265 total yards and accounting for three scores.

Horton, who scored both of Pine Tree's touchdowns, paced the Pirates with 76 rushing yards on 15 totes.

Marshall Vs. Hallsville

HALLSVILLE — Marshall High School football team defense turned in their best performance of the season as they limited Hallsville to 53 total yards in the second half while pitching a shutout to lead the Mavericks to a convincing 40-7 victory over their county rivals in a District 12-4A game.

With the win, the Mavs improved to 4-2 overall, 3-0 in district, and are currently tied for first place with Nacogdoches, who defeated Henderson 34-10 Friday.

The Mavericks raced out to a 19-0 lead in the first half as Darius Jones connected with Dameon Smith on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 5:59 left in the opening period.

K.D. Johnson added a touchdown run of nine yards while Andrew Clough bowled in from two yards out in the second quarter.

Clough ran for 141 yards on 24 carries with Johnson tacking on 114 additional yards.

Hallsville lone score came wit seven seconds to go in the first half one a one-yard run by quarterback Tom Lee Hutchinson.

Clough and Johnson teamed up to scored rushing touchdowns in the third quarter — Clough from 23 yards out and Johnson from 25 yards out — to put the game out of reach.

Marshall final score came on an 11-play, 60 yard drive that chewed 4:22 off the clock, capped off by a Darius Jones 47-yard scoring run.

The Mavericks rolled 393 total yards (307 on the ground) to 179 for the Bobcats while amassing twice as many first downs as the Bobcats — 24-12.

Both teams continue district action next Friday as Marshall hosts Henderson and the Bobcats (2-3. 0-3) take on Whitehouse.

Henderson Vs. Marshall

Marshall's Jared Gobert had his cake and ate it too Friday night. And then he passed it around to the rest of his Mavericks teammates — metaphorically speaking — who huddled around him on their sideline following his game-saving interception.

After pinning Henderson deep in its own territory with a punt to the 9-yard line late in the fourth, Gobert then capped his 18th birthday by capping off yet another Marshall win when he picked off a Tyrell Jenkins pass with one minute remaining, halting a furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the District 12-4A foe Lions and sealing a 14-11 victory for the Mavericks in front of a packed Homecoming crowd at Maverick Stadium.

It provided Marshall's (5-2, 4-0) fifth straight win and set the stage for a league showdown with Nacogdoches Friday, the only other team that shares the Mavs' unblemished league mark.

Marshall — which looked to be in control early in the fourth with a 14-3 lead and the ball inside Henderson (4-3, 2-2) territory after Ulysis Bedolla scooped up a Telvin Fryman fumble — wasn't able to rid itself of the feisty Lions that easily, however.

The Mavericks were unable to capitalize on the turnover and Henderson's Tobias Washington responded four plays later by picking off a Jackson Hood pass and returning it 33 yards to the Marshall 36-yard line. It was Washington's second interception of the game.

That set in motion a four-play Lions' drive which ended with a 4-yard scoring scamper by Jenkins, a sophomore who was 12-for-22 passing for 130 yards in his first start as a signal caller at the varsity level.

Joseph Price then took in the two-point conversion on an end-around carry to the left side and Henderson found itself down by just three with six minutes left.

After a four-and-out from Marshall, the Lions had their chance for a game-winning drive, although they were working from their own 9 with 3:19 left and two time outs following Gobert's 30-yard punt that went out of bounds just before entering the end zone for a touchback.

While the second half had its share of excitement, the Mavs almost silenced themselves in the first half, as a turnover and a couple of untimely penalties threw some major kinks in two of their possessions.

Darius Jones, who threw his first interception of the season in the second quarter — also a Washington pick, which he returned 21 yards to set up Henderson's first points courtesy of a 45-yard Dalton Orr field goal — got Marshall out of the holes with a pair of long runs.

After a holding penalty backed the Mavs out of the Lions' red zone late in the second, Jones took a designed quarterback keeper to the right side before running into traffic and reversing his direction to rip off a 26-yard run to the Henderson 9-yard line.

Three plays later Andrew Clough finished off the Mavs' 11-play, 64-yard drive with a 3-yard push up the middle to give Marshall its first lead, 7-3, with 4:45 remaining before halftime.

Clough (20 carries, 97 yards) scored Marshall's other touchdown with a 13-yard sprint to cap a time-consuming 12-play, 56-yard march at the 5:45 point of the third frame.

Henderson gambled on the ensuing possession on a fourth down-and-1 from its own 25-yard line with a fake punt.

The Lions converted, however, and a few plays later Fryman (22 carries, 105 yards) took a 29-yard carry to the Mavs 12-yard line with the clock winding down.

Marshall's B.B. Richardson knocked down a Jenkins pass in the end zone, though, and then blocked an Orr 40-yard field goal attempt to silence the drive and keep the momentum on Marshall's side entering halftime.

Jones led all players with 113 rushing yards on just nine carries.

Marshall Vs. Nacogdoches

Saturday, October 27, 2007

NACOGDOCHES — In the long awaited clash between District 12-4A titans Marshall and Nacogdoches, it was junior quarterback Darius Jones that answered the bell for the Marshall football team.

Jones scampered on a sweep around the left side from 10-yards out to put Marshall on top, 7-3, with 7:26 left in the first half to give Marshall the lead for good.

Jones' run was set up by a 22-yard dash by K.D. Johnson.

The Dragons got on the board first on a 30-yard field goal by William Rivas with just over 11 minutes to play in the opening half that capped a nine play drive that took 7:17 off the clock.

Following a brief three and out possession by the Dragons, Jones went to work again, connecting with Jeramiah Woolen on 7-yard touchdown reception that was set up by a Jones to Andrew Clough catch and run screen pass good for 18 yards.

The score ended a 10-play 49 yard drive that gave the Mavericks a 14-3 lead at intermission.

The second started out much like the first, with the Dragons getting the ball first and failing to register a first down.

The Mavericks had similarly troubles moving the pigskin as the second half turned out to be a defensive struggle.

The Mavericks dominated most all statistical categories, picking up 15 first downs to nine for Nacogdoches, winning the rushing battle 189 to 114 and picking up 264 total yards for the game to 199 for Nacogdoches.

Clough led Marshall with 92 yards on 17 carries, with Jones and Johnson combining for 85 more yards.

Jones had an effective night at quarterback, completing 6-of-10 passes for 75 yards and no interceptions.

Jeramiah Fisher had two catches for 25 yards to lead the Mavericks receiving corp.

The Marshall defense held the Dragons to 22 yards rushing and 70 yards passing in the second half.

Defensively, Ulysis Bedolla, Clay Coe, Randy Mukes and Aaron Franklin turned big efforts to pace Marshall.

Waylon Murray, the Dragons leading rusher, left the game with just over 10 minutes to go in the third quarter with an apparent hamstring injury.

Murray was done for the night after gaining 106 yards on 20 carries.

With the win, Marshall is sole possession of first place with a 5-0 district record, 6-2 overall.

The Mavericks return home for a date with Whitehouse Friday before closing out the season in two weeks at Kilgore.

Whitehouse Vs. Marshall

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Despite five turnovers, Marshall had its chances to knock off defending District 12-4A champion Whitehouse Friday night at Maverick Stadium. The Mavericks just couldn't convert them.

As a result, the Mavs fell from sole possession of first place while the Wildcats claimed themselves a share of the league mountaintop with a nail-biting 27-23 win.

Trailing by four points with 1:53 remaining, Marshall (6-3, 5-1) had a first-and-goal situation from the Wildcats' 9-yard line but was unable to find the end zone in the final four plays as a pair of rushes netted negative-one yard and a pair of passes fell incomplete. Darius Jones' last pass fell just shy of Dustin Fitzgerald near the left corner of the end zone, allowing the 'Cats to take over on downs with 50 seconds remaining.

The Mavs had converted on their previous four fourth-down attempts on the night.

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Marshall and left its playoff status in limbo.

Down three at halftime, Whitehouse (8-1, 5-1), which extended a five-game winning streak, stormed out of the locker room with a 14-play, 64-yard drive that was capped with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Brady Attaway to Cody Brown. That gave the 'Cats a lead they would not surrender at 21-17.

Attaway finished 20-of-29 for 236 yards and three touchdowns.

Whitehouse struck again on the ensuing possession when Marshall lost the football and Whitehouse's Julian Broaddus scooped it up and rumbled 61 yards for the score, pushing the Wildcats' lead to its biggest of the night at 27-17.

The Mavs cut the lead to four early in the fourth off a Jones 79-yard touchdown run, during which he tight-roped down the right sideline. The extra-point attempt was blocked by Whitehouse's Quincy Aldridge, however, a point that would prove crucial later in the quarter.

After stopping the Wildcats on their next two drives, the Mavs got the ball back with 5:08 remaining and advanced inside Whitehouse's 10-yard line with less than two minutes remaining.

Marshall controlled the ball and time of possession in the first half, running 45 plays to the Wildcats' 18.

The Mavericks advanced inside the Wildcats red zone on all five of its first-half possessions but a pair of fumbles on two of those drives halted Marshall in its tracks.

Whitehouse turned the first fumble into its first lead. Marshall had driven 64 yards on 11 plays but an errant pitch from Jones bounced off Marshall's ball carrier and the 'Cats fell on it at their own 28.

Five plays later Attaway found Leslie Perdue in the left corner of the end zone from 9 yards out for a 14-7 Whitehouse lead. Attaway hooked up with Bart Henderson on a 15-yard slant pass for the Wildcats' first score.

Henderson led all players with 113 yards receiving on five grabs.

The Mavs answered on their next possession after B.B. Richardson set them up inside Whitehouse territory with a 25-yard kickoff return.

Jones eventually capped a 7-play march with a 1-yard sneak up the middle to tie the score at 14-14 with 7:05 left in the second. Jones (128 yards passing, 143 yards rushing) scored all three of Marshall's touchdowns. He also scored on a 1-yard sneak on Marshall's game-opening drive.

Andrew Clough added 103 yards on the ground for the Mavs while K.D. Johnson chipped in with 69 rushing yards.

Kilgore Vs. Marshall

As it turned out, the district championship was on the line Friday night at Maverick Stadium.

And as it turned out, Kilgore wound up claiming it with a bruising 10-7 win over the Mavericks to close out the District 12-4A slate for both teams.

In a grind-it-out, power affair that has come to define Marshall's recent meetings with the Bulldogs, it was only fitting that a routine 1-yard punch up the middle from Kilgore's Hakeem Colbert iced the game with 1:37 left.

A couple of long runs and a couple of knees was all that was needed from there for the Bulldogs (8-2, 6-1) to walk away with their first league title since 2005.

Marshall (6-4, 5-2), which dropped its second straight game heading into the playoffs, had a chance to tie the game with 3:49 remaining but a 38-yard field goal attempt by Alan Guzman sailed wide right. The Mavs would not be able to get the ball back after that as Kilgore gained four first downs to empty the clock.

The momentum began to shift at the beginning of the third when Marshall held Kilgore to a four-and-out and then cut a 10-point halftime deficit to three points with a 12-play, 52-yard drive on its first second-half possession.

Eleven of those plays consisted of Darius Jones or Andrew Clough running the ball. The last tote was a Clough 3-yard sprint between the left tackle to provide Marshall's lone score at the 4:54 point of the third.

Clough finished with 108 yards on 27 carries while Jones added 44 yards on 11 attempts. Jones also completed 7 of 15 passes for 54 yards.

The Mavericks would get the ball on two more occasions but could not manage to even up the tally. They came the closest on their final drive. After holding the Bulldogs to another four-and-out, Marshall advanced to Kilgore's 10-yard line and had a third-and-3 situation but a pair of penalties pushed it back to the 21.

After failing to convert the third-and-long, the Mavs elected to try the field goal rather than attempt to take the lead.

Kilgore's offensive line controlled the trenches in the first half, which propelled the 'Dogs to their 10-point halftime cushion. Frank Reddic provided Kilgore's touchdown with a 15-yard run up the middle at the 8:28 point of the second. Ryan Bustin also connected on a 24-yard field goal attempt on Kilgore's opening drive to establish the lead for the Bulldogs.

Marshall responded to Kilgore's touchdown by staging its longest drive of the first half — and its only trip inside Kilgore territory in the first half — before the Bulldogs' Dominique Jones silenced the drive by knocking the ball loose from Darius Jones, to which Kilgore's Justin Roberts recovered the fumble.

Kilgore was unable to capitalize on the turnover, though.

Colbert led the Bulldogs with 95 yards on 26 carries while Reddic added 82 yards on nine totes. Both teams combined to run the ball 75 plays while attempting a combined 20 passes.

In other district action, Whitehouse defeated Nacogdoches 27-12 which solidified Marshall's emergence in the Class 4A, Division I bracket.

That means the Mavs will open the playoffs against Texas High next weekend. Speculation is that the game will be played at Tyler's Rose Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

BI-DISTRICT:  Marshall Vs. Texas High

Sunday, November 18, 2007

TYLER — Marshall head coach Thedrick Harris savored his first career playoff victory for all of about three seconds Saturday at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

Then it was time to think about next week.

Never mind that Harris had just guided the Mavericks their biggest comeback of the year in stunning fashion, courtesy of a 31-27 win over Texas High in a Class 4A-Division I bi-district showdown between former district rivals.

After falling behind 27-10 at halftime, the Mavs (7-4) adjusted defensively and slowly chipped away offensively to hand the Tigers (6-4-1) their first opening-round playoff loss since 1982.

"The kids showed a lot of guts today," Harris said. "To come back in the second half like that, they could have easily hung their heads and given up but they didn't. They did a tremendous job of going in at halftime and looking at the things they needed to do."

Marshall advances to take on McKinney Boyd (8-3) in a regional playoff affair at Tyler's TMF Rose Stadium on Saturday. The time is still to be determined.

In a game that featured numerous key moments — almost too many to count — Marshall had numerous players step up to each situation.

Although he was held to his lowest yardage output of the season — at 51 — Mavs' senior running back Andrew Clough scored three touchdowns and picked up a crucial first down on a fourth-and-1 during an 11-play, 61-yard Marshall scoring drive early in the fourth that cut the Texas High lead to 27-24.

Clough punctuated that drive, and the Mavs' next drive, with a 2-yard touchdown plunge, the last of which came with 2:18 remaining to give his team its first lead of the day.

"The coaches just told me to put my trust in my offensive linemen and to be patient and that was it," Clough said. "Then I just hit it."

Following Clough's last touchdown, Marshall still needed one final defensive stand to flesh out its win. Taking over at its own 9-yard line, the Tigers completed passes of 19, 10 and 23 yards, respectively, to advance to Marshall's 35-yard line with 34 seconds left.

That's when Mavericks' defensive end Eric McCowen's turn came.

McCowen stepped in front of a screen pass from Texas High quarterback Ethan Roper — a play that had burned Marshall earlier in the game — and cradled it for his first interception of the season. He returned it 51 yards to the Tigers' 9-yard line to put the stamp on the Marshall win.

"I saw the running back flaring out and the tackle tried to block me out to where he was going," McCowen said. "I could see (the quarterback's) eyes looking my way and then he drew his arm back and I figured I might as well get it."

On the play just prior to that, Roper — who had been inserted into the game after Texas High's starting quarterback Nathan Sorenson was injured one play earlier — had connected with Cobi Hamilton in the right corner of the end zone for what looked like the go-ahead score but Hamilton bobbled the pass as he fell to the ground and it landed incomplete.

Clough and McCowen weren't the only Mavericks making their presence known, though.

Jackson Hood, who came in for starter Darius Jones in the second quarter for his first snaps since an Oct. 26 game in Nacogdoches, completed 12 of 21 passes for a season-best 251 yards and a touchdown.

Hood found Nick Grogan on a 16-yard scoring toss with 8:55 showing in the third to finalize a seven-play, 70-yard scoring drive to open the second half for Marshall. The senior said that was likely the turning point in the game.

"That first drive right after halftime was real important for us to set the tone," Hood said. "We wanted to set the tempo right there and that's what we did."

Hood also set up the Mavericks final score with a 66-yard connection to Jermaine Woolen straight down the middle of the field on a third-and-10 from their own 11-yard line with 3:45 showing on the game clock.

Hood found Woolen again for a 15-yard gain on the next play to set up a first-and-goal for Marshall.

"We tell Jackson every week to be prepared," Harris said. "He stepped in and made some big plays today."

The Mavericks allowed touchdowns on all four of Texas High's first-half possessions as the Tigers churned out yardage and first downs at will. After racking up 14 first downs in the first half, Texas High managed only six in the second half, though, three of which came on its final drive.

The Tigers scored on drives of 86, 84, 75 and 70 yards, respectively, in the first half.

After limiting Marshall to only 37 total yards on its first two drives, Texas High took its largest lead of the game, at 20-0, when Leroy Jones ran in a 60-yard screen pass from Sorenson for a score at the 7:05 point of the second frame.

The tide began to slightly shift on the extra point, however, as Marshall's Ryan Hall blocked it and returned it 92 yards for the Mavs' first two points of the game.

The Mavericks followed that with an 11-play, 61-yard scoring march capped by a 2-yard Clough jaunt for their lone tally of the first half.

Leroy Jones led the Tigers with 100 yards rushing on 19 totes and another 83 yards receiving on three snatches. Sorenson finished 11-of-21 passing for 193 yards and two scores.

Marshall's Darius Jones finished with 30 yards rushing, 20 yards receiving and 13 yards passing for Marshall. Woolen, one of seven Marshall players to catch at least one pass, had 81 yards on two grabs.