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Lions vs Palestine-Hutsonville
The Marshall Lions hosted the Hutsonville-Palestine Pioneers Friday night at home. It was an unusually warm evening for an
October game. The Lions defeated the Pioneers 49-14.
The Pioneers were the first to receive the ball as the Lions kicked off to start the game. Stephen Walls took the opening
kick and had an impressive run back to Marshall's 28-yard line. It looked as if the Pioneers were going to score within the
first few minutes, but the Lions' strong defensive line held them and took over on four downs at the 18-yard line.
With the Lions in control of the ball, they were assessed a penalty and pushed back five yards. In the next minute and
a half, Marshall pushed the ball up the field from the 41-yard line and scored.
Ryan Shumaker had a carry. Then Kyle Burnam had a 20-yard run, followed by two receptions from Lion quarterback Travis
Johnson. Burnam scored the touchdown on a seven-yard run. With eight minutes left in the first quarter, Luke Nelson hit the
point after, making the score 7-0.
Tyler Howard kicked off for the Lions and Jesse Martin took the ball out to the 20-yard line.
On third down and five yards to go, Ryan Roberts threw a long pass, which was intercepted by Alan Wolter. Johnson then
found Wolter open and made a 35-yard pass in the end zone. Nelson hit the extra point and the Lions led 14-0.
The Pioneers had a hard time moving the ball against Marshall's front line and had to punt the ball on fourth down.
The Lions got the ball at the 49-yard line and quickly moved the ball with passes to Wolter, Burnam and Kaleb Johnson.
Burnam had a quick six-yard run to score again. Nelson hit the point after and the Lions led 21-0 with 3:30 left in the first
quarter.
Jenson Martin took the kickoff for the Pioneers and was stopped at the 43-yard line. Roberts hit Luke Mehler, but then
was sacked in the next play by Josh Harrold for a loss of 10 yards.
After an incomplete pass and a short run, Hutsonville-Palestine had to punt the ball again.
Burnam took the punt and ran the ball to the Pioneers' 45-yard line. Burnam then got the ball to the 38-yard line. Johnson
found another receiver Tyler Shotts, who made the reception and took the ball to the 11-yard line.
Johnson ran the ball up to the two-yard line and then found cousin Kaleb in the end zone. With Nelson's kick, the Lions
led 27-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Roberts connected with Ethan Holscher for a gain of five. Dana Kilmer, who is coming back from a neck injury, carried
the ball for a short gain. Joey York punted the ball to Marshall.
The ball back in Lion hands, sophomore Dustin Morey had a reception to give Marshall another first down. Ryan Shumaker
also caught a pass and ran for another first down.
From the 33-yard line, Johnson rolled to his left and found Wolter in the end zone. Nelson's kick was good and Marshall
led 35-0.
Sam Chubb came in for the Lions for the kick off. The Pioneers were still making little progress in moving the ball. On
third down and seven, Roberts was sacked by a pack of Lions. Drew Kendall was called for a facemask and the Pioneers were
given five yards.
Holscher tried to run but was stopped by Stephen O'Rourke and Marcus Linder. On fourth down and only two yards needed
for a first down, Roberts kept the ball for a quarterback sneak. He was met by big Vance Bohannon, Drew Kendall and Andrew
Brown and stopped short.
The Lions took over the ball at the Pioneers' 40-yard line. On first down and 10, Johnson handed off to Linder who was
met with a big hit by Walls of the Pioneers. Burnam took the ball to the 27-yard line. Johnson to Johnson gained eight yards
for the Lions before York made the stop.
The Lions were called offsides. That didn't distract the Lions though. Johnson connected to Taylor Duncan, who took the
ball in for a touchdown with the help of a good block by Kaleb Johnson. Chubb kicked the point after and Marshall led 42-0.
With just over six minutes left in the first half, Duncan came in to replace Johnson at quarterback. With a minute left,
the Lions' Tyler Shotts punted for the first time in the game.
In the remaining time, Chance Rector, Kendall, O'Rourke and Dalton Sanders were vital in stopping the Pioneers from scoring.
The first half ended with the Lions leading the Pioneers 42-0. Johnson had 257 yards passing with five touchdowns. Hutsonville-Palestine
had 66 total yards in the first half.
Burnam took the opening kickoff of the second half for the Lions. Johnson found his favorite target, Wolter, for a Marshall
gain. Duncan came in to replace Burnam and carried the ball on the next couple of plays.
Duncan broke through the line for a 13-yard gain. Kaleb Johnson got the toss from Johnson followed by a run by Shumaker
for a first down. The Lions kept marching downfield. Zack Carpenter put pressure on Shotts to cause an incomplete pass.
As the Lions got closer to the goal line, Shotts took a quick pass from Johnson for yet another Lion touchdown. Nelson
added a point. The Lions were shutting out the Pioneers 49-0.
Hutsonville-Palestine tried to move the ball up the field on runs by Roberts and Holscher. Roberts attempted a pass to
Walls but was under a lot of pressure from Lion freshman Dylan Reed. Sophomore Blake Smithson made a nice tackle and the Pioneers
had to punt the ball.
As the last quarter began, Coach Troy Johnson gave the bench some playing time.
Duncan came in as quarterback and made a nice pass to O'Rourke. On the next play Chubb fumbled the ball and the Pioneers
recovered.
With 9:00 left in the game, Roberts, Kilmer and Holscher ran the ball up the field for the Pioneers. Sanders, O'Rourke,
Jacob Minnich, and Tyler Bishop were instrumental in stopping the runs.
On 4th down, the Pioneers gave the ball to Holscher who made a 13-yard run for Hutsonville-Palestine's first touchdown.
Quarterback Roberts snuck in for two points to put the Pioneers on the board with eight points to the Lions' 49.
Smithson returned the kickoff. 155-pound Trey Trudeau got the ball but was met by 250-pound Kennon Siverly with a big
hit. Freshman Patrick Parsley came in as quarterback and had his pass picked off by Roberts. Parsley recovered quickly and
made the tackle on Roberts at the 40-yard line.
Sanders, Rector, and Bishop were a force on defense. With nothing to lose, the Pioneers went for it on fourth down and
11 yards to go. Roberts kept the ball and ran in for a touchdown. Holscher was stopped on the two-point conversion. The score
was 49-14.
Kilmer kicked off for the Pioneers and Parsley returned the ball. Tackles by Derek Gullett and Kilmer were responsible
for keeping the Lions out of the end zone.
The game ended with the Lions defeating the Pioneers 49-14.
Travis Johnson led the Lions with 288 yards passing and six touchdown passes. He was 20 for 23 attempts. Taylor Duncan
was two for five for 13 yards passing. The offensive line gave the quarterbacks excellent coverage, giving them plenty of
time to make good passes.
Kyle Burnam led the team in rushing yards with 54 yards in seven carries. He had one touchdown. Taylor Duncan rushed for
20 yards on three carries. Ryan Shumaker advanced the ball 19 yards in three carries. Travis Johnson ran 15 yards in two carries
and Sam Chubb had eight yards in three carries.
Alan Wolter was the big receiver of the night. He had 117 yards in five receptions and two touchdowns. Kyle Burnam had
four receptions for 44 yards and one touchdown. Kaleb Johnson had 39 yards in five receptions and one touchdown. Tyler Shotts
caught two passes for 32 yards and one touchdown. Taylor Duncan caught a pass for 28 yards and one touchdown. Dustin Morey
had two catches for 17 yards. Marcus Linder and Steven O'Rourke each had one reception for six yards.
Marshall had 413 total yards and Hutsonville-Palestine had 151 total yards.
After the game, Coach Johnson praised his offensive and defensive lines for doing such a great job. The Lions have won
their last six games and have secured a spot in the playoffs.
"Our goal is to get better every week," said Coach Johnson.
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