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Lions Lose Season Opener To Casey
The Lions and Warriors had only about fifteen minutes of play Friday evening before their first game of the season was postponed
due to lightning.
Burnam received the kickoff and ran to the 38 yard line. Marcus Linder and Burnam both ran with the ball for short gains.
After a punt from Tyler Shotts, Casey moved rapidly downfield with long runs by Taylor Biggs and Kaleb Brandenburg.
The Warriors were stopped by the Lion defense of Ryan O'Rourke, Tyler Howard, Vance Bohannan and others. With four minutes
to go in the first quarter, Casey's Josh Dunkel attempted a field goal from the seven yard line for Casey. It was no good
and the game was stopped due to lightning.
The teams returned to Bush Field on Saturday afternoon to finish the game. The Lions started out with the ball on their
20 yard line. Marshall moved downfield in a big way with a 24-yard pass from Travis Johnson to Caleb Johnson. Add to that
a 15-yard penalty against Casey and the Lions quickly had the ball on the Casey 37-yard line.
Ryan Shumaker fumbled the ball but Casey was unable to make much progress against the tough Marshall line and was soon
forced to punt.
Travis Johnson received the ball at the Marshall 35 yard line and carried it to the Casey 47 yard line. On the next play,
Ryan Shumaker made a great 47-yard run up the middle for a touchdown. Blake Hook's kick for the extra point was good and the
Lions ended the first quarter with a 7-0 lead.
The Lions continued to press in the second quarter. Andrew Brown and Tyler Howard put pressure on the Casey quarterback,
and the ball was soon back in Lion hands. The Lions advanced rapidly downfield as Kyle Burnam ran the ball with nice blocking
by Vance Bohannan and other Marshall linemen.
The Lions pushed all the way to the Casey 10 yard line. On the fourth down, Blake Hook attempted a field goal without
success.
Over the next few minutes, the Warriors worked their way downfield on carries by Sean Craig, Mitch Snyder and Taylor Biggs.
Making tackles for Marshall were Jake Hoalt, Drew Kendall, Brown, Burnam, Shumaker and Howard.
Biggs ran in for a touchdown. The extra point was made by Josh Dunkel to tie the game at 7.
Dunkel kicked off for Casey and Burnam received the ball, running it to the 34 yard line. Marcus Linder ran up the middle
for a first down.
Casey soon regained possession of the ball on an interception by Aaron Rhoads, who ran the ball to the Lions' 35 yard
line.
The second half belonged to Casey. Hook kicked off for Marshall. Luke Yates recovered the ball at the 18 yard line and
made a huge 82-yard run for a touchdown. The extra point kick by Dunkel was good and the Warriors led 14-7.
Soon after, Taylor Biggs intercepted a Lion pass and carried the ball to the Marshall 22 yard line. Play by play, Casey
moved again toward the Marshall goal line. Lions Bohannan, Bowen, Brown, Bartnick, Kendall and others held off the Casey assault
at the two yard line. However, when Marshall gained possession of the ball, Burnam was tackled in the endzone, a safety for
the Warriors. Casey led 16-7.
Hook punted for Marshall and Yates ran the ball all the way back to the Marshall eight yard line. He was tackled by Hook.
The Warriors tried running in and throwing in and, finally, were successful in making a field goal with a kick by Dunkel.
They led 19-7.
The Warriors kicked off to Marshall. Travis Johnson made several carries and soon garnered a first down.
Casey was able to stop further Lion efforts. Once they regained possession of the ball, the Warriors moved relentlessly
downfield on plays by Craig, Snyder and Rhoads. This drive culminated as Snyder threw to Biggs for a touchdown. Dunkel's field
goal was good and the Warrior lead expanded to 26-7.
In the last two minutes of the the third quarter, Taylor Duncan and Lee Combs moved the ball downfield with great blocking
by Bohannan and others, but the Lions were unable to score and the ball was back in Warrior hands.
Casey continued to do well in the fourth quarter. Casey gained 24 yards on a throw over the middle from Snyder to Biggs.
Caleb Johnson made the tackle.
After a brief possession by the Lions, the Warriors again made an assault on the Lions' goal line with carries by Biggs
and Seeley.
Brett Livvix sneaked in for a touchdown and the field goal kick by Ira Adams was good, expanding the Warrior lead to 33-7.
With less than two minutes to go, the Lions worked hard for one more touchdown. Travis Johnson completed passes to Shumaker,
C. Johnson, Taylor Duncan and Alan Wolter. With the Lions unable to score, Blake Hook kicked a 28-yard field goal with five
seconds to go.
The game ended Casey 33, Marshall 10.
The Lions will travel to Martinsville Friday.
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