Marshall dominated the scoreboard early but was held silent the rest of the game. It turned out to be a tough defensive game for the Lions as Cumberland controlled the clock. The Pirates put 13 points on the board in the last quarter, but Marshall held on to a 20-13 win.

Marshall’s Andre Strohm took the opening kickoff and returned it to the 33-yard line. On first down, Jacob Duncan was well defended by Cole Carlen and the pass was incomplete. Quarterback Taylor Duncan kept the ball on the next two possessions and got a first down for the Lions. On the next play, Duncan connected with 6’6" Dustin Morey for a 38-yard pass reception. He was well defended but was able to get up above the Cumberland player to snag the pass.
It took just two more tries by Duncan to get the ball into the end zone. On second down, he scrambled into the end zone after a pass play failed. Luke Nelson kicked the extra point to give the Lions an early 7-0 lead.

Jacob Minnich kicked off to the Cumberland team. On third down, after only advancing seven yards, a flag was thrown against Cumberland for off sides. Cumberland quarterback Cole Miller attempted to pass to receiver Silas Gable, but he was double covered by Logan Cannady and Taylor Duncan. Cannady was able to get his hand on the ball and knock it away from the receiver. The Pirates had to punt on fourth down.

Lee Combs took the kick off for Marshall and ran it to the 31 yard line. On that play, Combs came up limping and after half time was on the sideline in street clothes.

Marshall went through four downs and had to punt to Cumberland. Carlen of Cumberland tried to run the ball, but was met in the middle by Jared Boyll, Jacob Minnich, Tyler Bishop and Dalton Sanders. Clay Wilson ran the ball on the next two plays but was brought down each time by Patrick Parsley.
After two successful first downs, Cumberland turned the ball over to the Lions after an unsuccessful pass on fourth down. Trey Trudeau was there to cause the incompletion.

Marshall took over on Cumberland’s 31 yard line. The first pass to Morey was incomplete, but on second down, Taylor Duncan found his brother Jacob Duncan for a 69-yard touchdown pass. Nelson put in the extra point and Marshall led 14-0.

Minnich kicked off to Gable who was met and brought down by Boyll and Trudeau. With about four minutes left in the first quarter, Logan Cannady intercepted a pass intended for Gable. He fumbled the ball, but it was recovered by Boyll. A flag was thrown for an illegal block in the back by Marshall, but the infraction occurred after the interception so Marshall maintained possession of the ball.

Strohm took the ball up the middle on first down and then broke loose for a great run on second down. Austin Wetnight provided Strohm with good blocking to give him a place to run. From the 13 yard line, Duncan advanced the ball to the eight-yard line. Strohm squeaked out another three yards on the next down. From the five yard line, Duncan kept the ball for a touchdown following in behind Boyll, Minnich and Dalton McNeely.

On the extra point attempt, the snap was fumbled and Duncan attempted a pass to Morey which was incomplete in the end zone. Marshall took a commanding 20-0 lead.

On the kick off, Boyll recovered a fumble by Gable. Duncan threw an interception on the one yard line. The first quarter ended with the Pirates on Marshall’s 15 yard line.

To begin the second quarter, Cumberland moved the ball out to the 25 yard line for a first down. The Pirates continued to keep the ball on the ground for about 8 ½ minutes as Boyll, Minnich, Parsley, Duncan, Cannady, Strohm, Connor Littleton, and Aaron Rhoads kept up the Lion defense. As the Pirates went for it on fourth down on the 23 yard line, Bishop put pressure on the quarterback and Trudeau finished him off with a tackle.

Marshall took over at that point with 3 ½ minutes remaining in the first half. On first down, Duncan kept the ball for a 12-yard scramble. Again on third down, Duncan was able to run for a first down to the 41 yard line. The offensive line provided him with great blocking to give him a hole.

With two minutes left, Duncan threw to Wetnight, who was hammered as he caught the ball and was unable to hang on to it. Duncan then connected with Duncan to get the ball into Cumberland territory.
The Lions were unable to advance the ball further, and Marshall ended the half with a 20-0 lead.

Luke Nelson kicked off to begin the second half and Gable was taken down by McNeely. The Pirates went four out with good defense by Strohm, Cannady and Bishop.

Marshall took the punt and began on the 19 yard line. After incomplete passes and unsuccessful runs, Duncan punted to the Pirates.

Still scoreless, Cumberland kept the ball on the ground and ran precious time off of the clock. They had possession for about the next seven minutes and were unable to get a first down on the 10 yard line.

Marshall took over and the third quarter ended with Marshall in possession and maintianing a 20-0 lead.

Cumberland did not come into the game undefeated without a reason. They did not give up and decided to make a real game of it in the final 12 minutes.
Marshall was able to get a first down on a quarterback sneak. Duncan had an incomplete pass to Wetnight but then completed one to Strohm, but Marshall was penalized for holding and sent back to the 18 yard line and third down and 15 yards.

Duncan threw an interception and Cumberland found themselves at Marshall’s 31 yard line. Miller found Gable open deep and completed the pass to the one yard line. For two downs, Rhoads and Adam Kendall were able to stop the quarterback sneak, but on third down, Gable took the ball in for the score.
Brendan Ritchie attempted the extra point kick. The snap was a low one and Dalton Sanders was able to get up to block the kick. Cumberland was on the board with Marshall leading 20-6.

Cumberland attempted an on-side kick, but it didn’t go 10 yards before they were penalized for an illegal touch. Marshall took over at near mid-field.
Duncan kept the ball on first down and scampered for a nine-yard gain. Strohm was given the ball and dragged some tacklers with him for a 14-yard gain, giving Marshall another first down.

The Lions were not able to get the ball into the end zone. On fourth down, Luke Nelson came in to attempt a 37-yard field goal. It was a low snap, so Nelson just fell on the ball. That was a smart and risky play for Nelson. It kept Cumberland from running with the ball, but Nelson is also recovering from a broken collar bone. He was hit but appeared to be alright.

Cumberland took over at the 32 yard line and successfully marched up the field even though they continued to run time off of the clock, which was not to their advantage.

The Pirates got several first downs and eventually the quarterback ran the ball in for a touchdown from the 14 yard line. The extra point was good and the gap was narrowed to 20-13.

With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Cumberland tried another on-side kick. Morey was able to catch the ball in the air for the Lions.
Duncan had a couplef more runs, and Strohm added some more yardage. With about 1:20 left, Marshall was called for false start and penalized five yards.
The Lions ran one more play and Duncan took a knee on the last two plays of the game.

The Lions improved their record to 2-1 and will travel to Albion next Friday to take on the Edwards County team.

According to Coach Todd Evers, the Lions played their game in the first quarter. "We came out and played the way we wanted." In the second quarter, the Lions didn’t have possession of the ball much but were able to keep the Pirates from scoring.

"They wanted to control the clock and keep the ball out of Taylor’s hands," commented Coach Evers. The coach had this to say of Lee Comb’s injury, "Lee is very physical. Not having him hurt us. The preliminary report is that it is a sprained ankle. We’ll know more when he sees a doctor."

Stats for the night include Taylor Duncan carrying the ball 22 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns. He was only 4 for 15 passes, but totaled 131 passing yards and one touchdown.

Andre Strohm had another strong game and carried 11 times for 70 yards. Jacob Duncan had two receptions for 88 yards and one touchdown. Dustin Morey had one catch for 38 yards.