Published: October 31, 2009 11:51 pm         

Red-hot Marshall football advances in Illinois 2A playoffs

Marshall, Ill. — Marshall won its ninth straight football game Saturday afternoon, defeating Westville 27-6 in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs in Illinois at Bush Field.

The Lions will be at home for a second-round contest, meeting Williamsville, another 9-1 team. Marshall is seeded No. 4, Williamsville No. 5 in the upper bracket.

Marshall and Westville both scored their first touchdowns on big plays but the Lions stifled the Tigers the rest of the way, holding them to 155 yards in total offense. The Lions finished with 271 in the game played in sunny, cool conditions on a muddy field.

“We had to make a lot of adjustments for Westville’s running game. We were well-prepared. The defensive line was just unbelievable … we’ve come a long way,” said Marshall coach Todd Evers following the game.

Senior Taylor Duncan passed for 148 yards and rushed for 68 and had a touchdown pass — one for 41 yards to brother Jacob that put the Lions up 7-0.

Marshall picked up a first down on its first possession and Westville went nowhere after starting its first drive from its own 1-yard line and the Lions had good field position, at the Tigers’ 41, to begin their second possession.

Taylor Duncan hit Jacob with the pass on the first play and Luke Nelson converted the first of three conversion kicks to put the Lions ahead for good.

Westville got its only score on the next possession with Matt Maser hooking up with Brandon Pratt for a 76-yard play but the Tigers were unsuccessful on a 2-point conversion play and trailed 7-6 with less than two minutes left in the first period.

Marshall wasted no time in scoring again as Andre Strohm broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run on the Lions’ first play of their third possession.

The Lions got their final touchdown of the game with just over six minutes left in the half. Strohm scored again, going eight yards for the score. Taylor Duncan’s 28-yard pass to brother Jacob gave the Lions a first down at the Westville 10 after Marshall had been called for offensive pass interference.

Nelson was good on two of three field goals to close out the scoring for the day, booting one from 28 yards in the second stanza and one from 32 yards early in the fourth frame.

“That was the first one he has missed this year. This environment is not very kind for kickers. That is a testament to how much he practices. I’ve seen him on weekends with his mom holding for him,” said coach Evers.

Strohm finished with 137 yards rushing and needs just 14 to go over 1,000 for the season. Jacob Duncan caught four passes for 94 yards.

Dalton Sanders had his 16th sack of the season to tie Eric White for the Marshall school record for sacks.

“Westville caught us in one big play. They caught us in man coverage. We don’t run that very often . . . our guy slipped and [the Westville receiver] ran by him,” said Evers.

He complimented on the work done by the Westville coaches. “That running game is one of the best we have seen this year . . . hey, when our defense is playing like this, we can play with anybody,” he said.

“In [close games], it comes down to special teams and turnovers, two things we are doing well. Our turnover ratio was plus 14 going into this game,” said the coach.

“We can play with anybody right now. That’s the way we feel,” he concluded.



Westville 6 0 0 0 — 6

Marshall 14 10 0 3 — 27

M — J. Duncan 41 pass from T. Duncan (Nelson kick) 8:04 1Q

W — Pratt 76 pass from Maser (pass failed) 1:50- 1Q

M — Strohm 66 run (Nelson kick)

M — Nelson 28 FG 3:41 2Q

M — Nelson 32 FG 11:19 4Q

W M

First downs 6 14

Rushes-yards 26-57 34-223

Passing yards 98 148

Comp-Att-Int 7-17-0 9-19-0

Return yards 0 0

Punts-avg 3-23 2-30.5

Fumbles-lost 2-2 4-2

Penalties-yards 8-55 7-45

Individual leaders

Rushing — Marshall: Taylor Duncan 14-68, Strohm 15-137, Jacob Duncan 3-12, Combs 1-5, Chubb 1-1

Passing — Marshall: T. Duncan 9-19-0, 148 yards

Receiving — Marshall: J. Duncan 4-94, Strohm 1-8, Littleton 2-24, Morey 2-22

Next — Marshall (9-1) will host Williamsville in a second-round playoff game. Westville finished 6-4.