Jamahl Gentry of the Tigers puts a foot down to make the catch. (Post Photo by Rickey Clardy)
By RICKEY CLARDY
Sports Writer
LEWISBURG — The Marshall County Tigers took a big lead with three touchdowns in the opening quarter and rebooted after the break to score three more times in the second half as the Tigers remained undefeated with a 42-7 win over the White House Blue Devils in a 5-4A football matchup Friday night.
With special teams and the defense setting the stage early, the Tigers were given great field position and took a quick lead in the opening quarter.
After the Blue Devils took the opening kickoff, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a three-and-out
Marquay Allen and Kaiden Harris of the Tigers make the tackle on a Blue Devil runner. (Post Photo by Rickey Clardy)
kept White House pinned in its own territory and forced the Blue Devils to punt, giving the Tigers the ball at the White House 35.
A 20-yard run by Jamahl Gentry and a 9-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Thompson to Kel Hightower gave Marshall County (5-0, 3-0) a first-and-goal at the Blue Devil 5-yard line.
The Tigers reached paydirt on third down as Thompson connected with Aja Jones for three yards and the score.
The extra point by Luis Gonzalez, who was a perfect 6-of-6 on points, gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 7:24 left.
With Gonzalez consistently reaching the end zone on his kickoffs, White House was forced to start its next drive and most drives on the night from its own 20. Another three-and-out forced a punt as the Tigers started on the Blue Devil 43-yard line.
On the first play from scrimmage, Gentry escaped a multitude of would-be Blue Devil tacklers en route to the end zon
Quarterback Tyler Thompson of the Tigers runs for a big gain. Thompson had four touchdown passes and a rushing score in the Marshall County win. (Post Photo by Rickey Clardy)
e and the second Tiger touchdown.
The Gonzalez point gave Marshall County a 14-0 advantage with 4:26 remaining.
“That was a special run,” Coach Thomas Osteen of the Tigers said. “He also caught a wheel route in the third quarter to keep a play alive. He’s a special player.”
The Tiger defense forced the third consecutive White House three-and-out as Marshall County once again started in Blue Devil territory at the White House 45.
On the third play from scrimmage, Thompson hooked up with Marcus O’Neal for 29 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers increased their lead to 21-0 with 1:00 left.
“All three phases working together, the defense three-and-out, pressure on the punt, setting up short fields, that’s our recipe all three phases of the game working together,” Osteen said. “Luis Gonzalez is such a weapon for us and puts the ball in the end zone.”
“Really happy that we were able to get a big advantage and take them out of their game plan by getting a big lead early,” Osteen added.
As the game moved to the second quarter, the Blue Devil field position improved as the teams traded possessions without scoring.
The Tiger defense continued to play flawless football for most of the half, but White House found an opening with 20 seconds left as quarterback Easton Biggs found Reed Aguilar in stride for a 70-yard TD pass.
The extra point by Charlie Perkins cut the Tiger lead to 21-7 as the game reached the halfway point.
With the swing of momentum moving to the side of the Blue Devils, the Tigers took the opening kickoff in the second half.
After a key facemask penalty against White House gave Marshall County a new set of downs during the drive, the Tigers drove the ball to the red zone and faced a fourth-and-goal inches short of the goal line.
After an apparent touchdown was negated due to a penalty, the Tigers were backed up five yards. With confusion at the line of scrimmage and with Osteen frantically trying to call a timeout, the ball was snapped to Thompson.
After almost fumbling the ball on the busted play, Thompson still managed to slither over the goal line for the score as the Tigers went up 28-7 with 6:37 left in the third quarter.
“That’s one of those where you’d rather be lucky than good,” Osteen said. “We had a busted play and I was calling a timeout and Tyler Thompson took it in.”
“You need some bounces in this game and we got one right there,” Osteen added.
With the Tigers righting the ship, Marshall County added to its lead on its next possession as Thompson teamed up with DJ Gardner, Jr. for a 28-yard touchdown pass. The extra point by Gonzalez put the Tigers up 35-7 with 1:21 remaining.
After a Blue Devil fourth down conversion attempt failed as the game went to the final quarter, the Tigers added to their lead.
Marshall County once again scored on its first possession of a drive as Thompson found Jones for 52 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers went up 42-7 with 11:40 left.
Both teams threatened but failed to score the rest of the way as the game ended with a running clock.
Marshall County moves out of the region and starts a 3-game road trip with a game at Fayetteville next Friday night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
White House 0 7 0 0 — 7
Marshall Co. 21 0 14 7 — 42
First Quarter
MC — Aja Jones 3 pass from Tyler Thompson, (Luis Gonzalez kick), 7:24.
MC — Jamahl Gentry 43 run, (Gonzalez kick), 4:26.
MC — Marcus O’Neal 29 pass from Thompson, (Gonzalez kick), 1:00.
Second Quarter
WH – Reed Aguilar 70 pass from Easton Biggs, (Charlie Perkins kick), 0:20.
Third Quarter
MC — Thompson 5 run, (Gonzalez kick), 6:37.
MC — DJ Gardner, Jr. 28 pass from Thompson, (Gonzalez kick), 1:21.
Fourth Quarter
MC — Jones 52 pass from Thompson, (Gonzalez kick), 11:40.
