By Tom Reck
Casey, Ill. — The Casey-Marshall Illinois Class 2A football playoff game came down to a blocked extra point in overtime at Sinclair-Vidoni Field.
The Lions scored first in the extra session and Casey got a touchdown but Dalton Sanders blocked Clinton Scott’s PAT attempt and Marshall prevailed 14-13.
Winning their 11th straight game since losing to the Warriors in the season opener, the 11-1 Lions are in the Final Four for the first time since 1979 and will be host to Mariah-Forsyth (10-2) for a game to be played Saturday afternoon at Bush Field.
“It’s an exhilarating feeling,” said Sanders, who also blocked an extra point in the playoffs last year against Auburn.
He and Jared Boyll both were credited with eight tackles in the contest played in sunny conditions on a dry field. He shares the Marshall school record for sacks (16) in a single season.
Except for the finish, Saturday’s game was similar to the first one in that neither team scored in the first half.
Marshall came closest, driving to the Casey 11 to set up a 28-yard field-goal attempt by Luke Nelson but the kick was off mark.
The Warriors took the second-half kickoff and drove 67 yards to score the first touchdown of the day with Billy Livvix hitting Josh Thais with a 10-yard scoring pass.
Marshall was held in check until the fourth period when the Lions went 72 yards in 10 plays with Taylor Duncan scoring on a 4-yard run.
The senior quarterback rushed for 13 yards and completed four passes for 46 yards in the drive with one giving the Lions a first down at the 4 while Casey was assessed a 15-yard penalty in the drive.
Marshall had a chance to win the game in regulation when Patrick Parsley intercepted a Billy Livvix pass and returned it to the Casey 5-yard line with 53.2 seconds showing on the clock.
Nelson attempted a 24-yard field goal as time expired. It looked good but was ruled wide right.
Marshall scored first in the overtime with Duncan going 10 yards for the score on the third play.
Thais scored on a two-yard run for the Warriors on their fourth play, setting up the dramatic finish.
“This shows the resiliency of our teamand how hard we worked and how much we wanted it. Casey is a great team … we came out on the end,” said Duncan.
Taylor Duncan rushed for 48 yards and brother Jacob, a sophomore, had 12 as Andre Strohm, the leading rusher, was hampered by back spasms. Austin Ragsdale led the Warriors with 66 yards on the ground; Billy Seeley had 40 and Thais 23 and Thais had a game-high 10 tackles.
Coach Todd Evers now is 4-1 in the playoffs in his second year as the coach at Marshall.
“The first half was evenly matched. We moved the ball a little better. I told our guys at the half we were the better football team and came out determined,” he said.
“Casey came out running the football down our throats [in the second half] and we didn’t have much of an answer. We made a couple adjustments to make them run off tackle … our defense came up huge and made big plays and won this game for us,” he said.
Casey coach Keith Sinclair said the game came down to the little things.
“We had some key penalties at the wrong time and some turnovers that ordinarily are not part of our game. Give credit to Marshall. I wish them the best next week and hope they go all the way,” he said.
Marshall 0 0 7 7 — 14
Casey 0 0 7 6 — 13
C — Thais 10 pass from Livvix (Scott kick) 5:23 3Q
M — Taylor Duncan 4 rush (Nelson kick) 1:36 4Q
M — T. Duncan 10 rush (Nelson kick) OT
C — Thais 2 run (kick blocked) OT
M C
First downs 14 11
Rushes-yards 34-54 39-154
Passing yards 116 13
Comp-att-int 9-17-0 4-7-2
Return yards 31 38
Punts-avg 6-29.5 3-41.5
Fumbles-lost 3-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 3-13 5-45
Individual leaders
Rushing — Marshall: T. Duncan 23-48, Strohm 6-14, J. Duncan 5-12, team (-)20; Casey: Livvix 3-15, Seeley 11-40, Ragsdale 18-66, Unzicker 1-6, Evans 1-4, Thais 5-23
Passing — Marshall: T. Duncan 9-17-0-116; Casey: Livvix 4-7-2-13
Receiving — Marshall: Grooms 3-28, Wetnight 1-11, Strohm 2-11, J. Duncan 2-57, Morey 1-9
Next — Marshall (11-1) will host Mariah-Forsyth in an Illinois Class 2A semifinal playoff game on Saturday. Casey concludes an 11-1 season.
