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November 9, 2008

Marshall football hangs around, can't upset Auburn

By Andy Amey

Auburn, Ill. — At halftime of the Illinois Class 2A high school football playoff game Saturday afternoon, Marshall and Taylor Duncan looked more than capable of upsetting top-seeded Auburn.

Duncan, the Lions’ quarterback, was running at will against the Trojans’ defense as Marshall’s offensive line protected him nicely against a much bigger defensive front.

A fierce crosswind was hampering the Marshall passing game, but the Marshall defense had finally forced the only punt of the first half after end-to-end play resulted in a 7-7 tie.

But the Trojans limited Duncan’s forays in the second half, and Auburn running back Ryan Gardner pounded the Marshall defense while Trojan quarterback Michael Bates was able to find receivers when he needed them. The result was a 25-7 win for the Trojans that wasn’t nearly as one-sided as the score.

Asked about adjustments his team made at halftime to defend Duncan, coach Dave Bates of the Trojans said, “I’m not sure we did that much, other than to tell [the Auburn defenders] to watch him.”

Duncan’s 107 yards in 16 first-half carries was the story of the first two quarters, as the two teams took turns marching down the field.

The home team took the opening kickoff and drove to Marshall’s 18-yard line before losing the ball on downs, a dropped pass in the end zone the big play.

Marshall defensive end Dustin Morey was injured during that series, and his absence cropped up on offense after the Lions responded with a seven-minute drive to Auburn’s 9-yard line. Morey — “We missed him offensively and defensively,” coach Todd Evers said after the game — is Marshall’s long snapper in addition to one of its best receivers, and with him unavailable to snap for a field goal attempt, the Lions also turned the ball over on downs.

Auburn drove 91 yards in 15 plays for the first score of the game, Michael Bates finding Cole Busch for a touchdown pass near the midpoint of the second quarter.

But a 24-yard kickoff return by Lee Combs stimulated a Marshall drive that ate up 60 yards in eight plays. The biggest of them might have been a fumble recovery by freshman lineman Dalton McNeely that kept it alive, but Duncan carried on six of them and scored with 3:12 left in the second quarter. Holder Duncan’s stretch for the ball from a backup snapper enabled Luke Nelson to be able to convert the extra point.

Marshall then came up with the game’s first defensive stop, although with not enough time left to convert it into points before halftime. And in the third quarter, the Lions twice in a row went three and out as 275-pound Alec Clayton — also frequently part of Auburn’s offensive backfield — led the way.

“We were able to stop [the Lions] with a couple of three- or four-play drives,” coach Bates said later, “and then our offense took over.”

Marshall’s defense held once, but then Michael Bates completed four passes in a 10-play drive that ended with a touchdown catch by Josh Sergent late in the third quarter.

A sack of Duncan — the only time Auburn managed that the entire game — thwarted Marshall’s next offensive series, and the Trojans drove for another score. And then an interception of a Duncan pass held up by the wind gave the Trojans a short field for the clinching touchdown.

“We had to throw it short [because of the wind] …. and were able to run the ball OK,” coach Bates said later. “I think our line kind of wore [the Lions] down a little bit.”

“We played very well the first half,” Evers said. “We came out today thinking we could play with this team [the top seed among the 16 southern Illinois 2A playoff participants] …. but the second half we couldn’t get a drive going. Some of the adjustments they made were a little too much for us.

“Auburn is a great football team,” Evers continued. “I think they’ll go pretty far in the playoffs. Their quarterback threw well and he moved around in the pocket so we had trouble getting to him.”

There were plenty of positives, Evers noted, starting with the way his smaller team dealt with the massive Trojans.

“Our offensive line played one of the best games it’s played all year,” he said. “That says a lot about the character we have on this football team.

“They’ve overcome a lot of adversity, even in the offseason; they had three head coaches in six months …. and they didn’t give up after they started out 0-3,” Evers pointed out. “Overall I’d say we had a successful season, and I’m very proud of them.”



Auburn 25, Marshall 7

Marshall 0 7 0 0 — 7

Auburn 0 7 6 12 — 25

A — Cole Busch 11 pass from Michael Bates (Tyler Johnson kick), 6:33 2Q

M — Taylor Duncan 7 run (Luke Nelson kick), 3:12 2Q

A — Josh Sergent 13 pass from Bates (kick blocked), 1:50 3Q

A — Ryan Gardner 1 run (pass intercepted), 8:09 4Q

A — Gardner 2 run (kick failed), 3:28 4Q

M A

First downs 11 23

Rushes-yards 31-172 47-161

Passing yards 27 187

Com-Att-Int 3-15-1 15-24-0

Return yards 0 -1

Punts-avg 3-36.3 2-30.5

Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-23 2-10

Individual statistics

Rushing — Marshall, Duncan 22-137, Lee Combs 4-23, Ryan Shumaker 5-12. Auburn, Gardner 34-143, Bates 7-10, Matt Gadberry 4-7, Alec Clayton 1-2, James Dambacher 1-minus 1.

Passing — Marshall, Duncan 3-15-1 27. Auburn, Bates 15-24-0 187.

Receiving — Marshall, Kaleb Johnson 2-22, Logan Eitel 1-5. Auburn, Collin Bushnell 7-105, Busch 3-31, Sergent 3-31, Gardner 2-20.

Next — Auburn (11-0) plays next Saturday at Macon Meridian. Marshall finished 7-4.

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