18 hours Ago By Lauren Rosenberg
The Marshall Mavericks (4-1, 1-0) defeated the Mount Pleasant Tigers (1-5, 1-1) 29-7 in a chippy matchup to open up district play and celebrate homecoming. The game started off as a Marshall fan would hope. On the opening kickoff, Raijon Sims returned the ball for a touchdown.
With the celebrations ongoing and the band playing their music, the great sounds of excitement were brought down by the microphone of the referee announcing a penalty on Marshall. The voice of the referee would engulf Maverick Stadium plenty of times when Marshall fans would hope they would put their yellow flag away. But alas, teams can’t rely on how the referees call the game.
One thing is for sure, this game was going to be won on the basis of who could overcome the most adversity. Coach Jason Hammett is very pleased with how his team was able to overcome the adversity of the referee’s calls. “In high school football, UIL doesn’t fine head coaches for talking bad about officials.
But overall, our officials across the state are really good. Tonight, I disagreed with several of their calls, especially in the first half. We had two touchdowns touchdowns called back and it put us in a bind.
I thought our kids did an excellent job at overcoming adversity,” said Hammett. On that aforementioned second touchdown that was waved up, Alton Henderson scrambled for a huge quarterback keeper, but, due to a holding penalty, the six points were wiped off the board and the color yellow took over the stadium. But here’s the thing about this Marshall Mavericks team: They do not quit.
They don’t allow themselves to wallow in self-pity on the “what could have been.” These Mavericks learn from what happened, convene on the sideline and better themselves. The defense held their own tonight and then some.
Landon Jones continued to shine, leading Marshall with three tackles and a sack. As a collective unit, the defense recorded four sacks and won the physicality battle against a sturdy Mount Pleasant offensive line. Dameon Smith Jr.
recorded a huge interception in the fourth quarter to give the defense a momentum boost and keep the threat of Mount Pleasant’s offense at bay. “Our defense really locked in early and had many great plays. [Smith Jr.
] had a great [interception] and our defense played really well,” said Hammett. One thing that can’t be glossed over is the growth of Henderson as a quarterback. Converting from a running back, Henderson has shown immense growth in game time that is tied directly to the work he puts in during practice.
“Alton’s a great player. Last year, he was a running back. To talk about the effort he puts into making himself a better quarterback is tremendous.
The effort Coach [Jeremy] Hammock and him do; these two go into work everyday and go through drills, film and all the thing you need to do to be a great quarterback. They keep grinding together and getting better,” said Hammett. The way Marshall made their game their own was full of trickery and exciting plays that made the full house of Maverick faithful go wild.
Isaiah Bush, en route to a 115-yard and one touchdown game, scrambled into the end zone for a four-yard touchdown. Lined up for the extra point, Henderson, who holds the snap on special teams, took the ball himself and ran it in for a two-point conversion to give Marshall a 8-0 lead. Kicker Jesus Grimaldo executed one of the cleanest onside kicks as he recovered the ball on the Tigers’ 49-yard line.
Henderson ran for 22 yards and then lob passed a 26-yard touchdown to Raijon Sims to put the Mavericks up 15-0. Semaj Gatson, en route to a 109-yard and one touchdown game, collected a four-yard touchdown of his own to put Marshall up 22-0. On the final scoring drive for Marshall, Henderson continued to show his growth in the passing game.
He found tight end Judd Illingworth wide-open for a 38-yard catch and run touchdown to put the Mavericks up 29-0. In the waning minutes of the game, Mount Pleasant would go on to get their only score of the game, a rushing touchdown by Carter Cook to bring it to the final score of 29-7. Henderson dominated on offense, passing for 119 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 32 yards.
Raijon Sims led receivers with 41-yards and one touchdown, while Illingworth’s 38-yard touchdown was his only catch of the evening. David Carlisle added two receptions for 33 yards. “I thought our kids did an excellent job at overcoming adversity.
We overcame a lot of adversity during practice this week and in tonight’s game. This just talks about how much these kids are locked in and trust each other, their staff and are always ready to go compete and play ball,” said Hammett. Up next, Marshall travels to Texarkana where they’ll matchup against the undefeated Texas High Tigers (6-0, 2-0) on Friday, Oct.
11 at 7:30 p.m..
