Marshall had the opening kickoff and Daniel Littlejohn booted it to the Lawrenceville receiver, who was brought down by John Kuhn and Justin Lewis. The Indians were forced to punt on fourth down. The Lions were able to score a safety on a high snap.  With barely any time off the clock, the Lions led 2-0.

Cole Rice returned the kickoff for the Lions to the 45 yard line.  That set Andre Strohm up for his first rushing touchdown. Strohm scampered around the right side for the 45-yard score. The extra point by Littlejohn was good.

With 10 minutes on the clock, Marshall had jumped to an early lead of 9-0.

Littlejohn kicked off and Lawrenceville took the ball to the 15 yard line. Marshall’s defense led by Adam Kendall, Jared Boyll, McQuaid Peterson and Brock Hook kept Lawrenceville in check, forcing another punt.

This time the punt went to the 20 yard line, where the Lions took over the ball. After an incomplete pass by quarterback Jacob Duncan, Duncan ran the ball to midfield. Duncan connected with Shaun Ahlers for a first down at the 28 yard line. Duncan then found Rodney Troutman in the end zone, and the big man came down with the ball for a touchdown.

The extra point was good and with 5:48 left in the first quarter, Marshall led 16-0.

On the next series of downs, the Indians couldn’t get anything moving. Kuhn, McNeely, Boyll and Hook continued to squelch any forward movement by the Indians. On third down, big Taylor Maurer blocked a pass attempt.

The punt was high and short and fair catch was called by Taylor Sanders, giving the Lions good field position. However, the Lions weren’t able to capitalize, and Duncan threw the pass behind Sanders and it was intercepted.

In the remaining minutes of the first quarter, the two teams exchanged the ball. The first quarter ended with Marshall leading 16-0.

Lawrenceville punted the ball on fourth down to begin the second quarter. The ball bounced down to the seven yard line. Illegal procedure was called against the Lions, putting them all the way back to the three yard line.

On second down, Duncan found Sanders for a 13-yard gain. A flag against Lawrenceville gave Marshall the first down. On third down the ball was intercepted by Cole Hulen of Lawrenceville.

Again, the excellent defense by the Lions forced the Indians to turn the ball back over to the Lions on downs.

With 7:12 left in the first half, Andre Strohm was given the ball and left all the defenders in the dust for an 80-yard touchdown run.  The extra point was good, and the Lions stretched their lead to 23-0.

The Indians fumbled the ball on second down, and Cole Rice made the recovery.

With 6:15 remaining in the half, Austin Osborn came in as quarterback. Rice had several good runs as did Osborn. Rice took the ball into the end zone on a four-yard scamper. Littlejohn’s extra point was good, and the Lions led 30-0. 

Lawrenceville punted on fourth down after failing to move the ball. With 57 seconds left in the first half, Strohm picked up another 14 yards. Duncan found Troutman on the next play for another touchdown. With the extra point, Marshall took a 37-0 lead going into half-time.

During the intermission, the Marching Lions and Marshallettes entertained the crowd.

When the game resumed, it took the Lions just over a minute to put seven more points on the board.

This time Duncan took the ball in from the 15 yard line. Littlejohn’s extra point was good, and the gap widented to 44-0.

Cole Steffy of Lawrenceville broke loose and may have taken the ball all the way into the end zone had it not been for Strohm’s lightning speed to catch him and bring him down.

The Indians failed to score and turned the ball over to the Lions on downs. Marshall took over at the 41 yard line. With 4:46 in the third quarter, Osborn gave the ball to Sanders who took it in for the score from the 10 yard line. The extra point was good and Marshall had a commanding lead 50-0.

Head Coach Todd Evers used the remainder of the game to allow the subs to get some playing time. Stepping up on defense were Ryan Sanders, Cotey Thompson, Taylor Padgett, Zack Tharp, Andy Blankenship, Ben Scamihorn, Gary Walker and Chad Leitch.

Lawrenceville took this opportunity to run the ball and finally got in the end zone on a 19-yard run by Tanner Volkman. The two point conversion was good, and the Indians were on the board 50-8.

Austin Mattingly took the kick off with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. The quarter ended with the score 50-8.

As the final quarter began, On second down, Lawrenceville recovered a Lion fumble. The Indians continued the running attack against Marshall’s reserves. Gage McIntosh ran the ball in from the 17 yard line. The two point conversion was successful, making the score 50-16.

Marshall fumbled the ball on the kick off and it was recovered by Lawrenceville. Steffy got the call to carry the ball and ran it in for six more points from the nine yard line. The Lions stopped the two point conversion. With 7:48 left in the game, Marshall led 50-22.

Mattingly took the kick off again for the Lions. Derrick Davidson came into the game as quarterback. Leitch had a couple of carries. On third down, Davidson kept the ball, but was tackled behind the line of scrimmage. Strohm came in to punt the ball to Lawrenceville.

The Indians continued to try to move the ball up field, but the receiver continued to be pestered by Ryan Sanders.

The game ended with Marshall taking a decisive 50-22 win.

Coach Evers said that Lawrenceville was definitely a scrappy team. “A win is a win,” said Coach Evers. “We got sloppy for a while, but the defense looked pretty good.”

Talking about the young players who came in to the game, “Turning the ball over was my concern. They’re learning and that comes with time,” commented Coach Evers.

Referring to Andre Strohm’s performance, Coach Evers said, “He does things that normal kids in 2A don’t do.” 

“Our goal is to get more guys in. We need to get in better shape and work hard,” concluded Coach Evers.

Marshall improves their record to 3-0 and will play Cumberland Saturday at 6pm (IL) at ISU’s Memorial Stadium on East Wabash Avenue in Terre Haute.

Marshall Stats

Rushing (carries/yards)

Andre Strohm - 6/197, 2TDs; Austin Osborn - 2/11; Chad Leitch - 2/3, 1.5; Jacob Duncan - 2/45, 1TD; Cole Rice - 5/25, 1TD; Taylor Sanders - 1/4.

Receiving (rec/yards)

Shaun Ahlers - 2/25; Brock Hook - 1/7; Taylor Sanders - 4/77, 1TD; Rod Troutman - 2/57, 2TDs.

Passing (comp/att)

Austin Osborn - 3/3, 66 yds; Jacob Duncan - 6/12, 100 yds, 2TDs, 2INT.

Tackles

Andre Strohm - 14, 1F-cause, 1 safety; Ryan Sanders - 1; Taylor Maurer - 1, 1 pass brk; Logan Goldsberry - 1;Chad Leitch - 1; Jacob Duncan - 4; Cole Rice - 6, 1 f-recov; Brock Hook - 4, 1 pass brk; Taylor Padgett - 2; Taylor Sanders - 5; Andy Blankenship - 2; Gary Walker - 3; Zack Bartnick - 3; Nolan Miller - 2; Jared Boyll - 15; Dalton McNeely - 3; Cotey Thompson - 1; Adam Kendall - 7; John Kuhn - 5; Justin Lewis - 2; Ben Scamihorn - 1; Rodney Troutman - 3; Wyatt Taylor - 3; Zach Claypool - 1; Zach Tharp - 4.

Kicking / Punt

Daniel Littlejohn - 6/7, 8 k-offs; Andre Strohm - 2 punts, 84 yds.

SUMMARY

First Downs: M - 14, Lville - 16; Rushing yards: M- 281, L - 257; Passing completions/  Attempts: M - 9/15, L - 4/13; Passing yards: M - 166, L - 63; Passing TD-INT: M - 3/2, L - 0/0; Punts/Average: M - 2/42, L - 5/23; Fumbles lost: M - 2/2, L - 1/1; Penalties yards: M - 1/5, L - 3/25; Total yards (offense): M - 447, L - 320.