The Marshall High School football team traveled to Olney to face the Richland County High School Olney Tigers in a Little Illini Conference game on Friday, September 19th. The Lions and Tigers (no Bears) came into the game with identical records of 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
When you look at the final stat sheet from this contest, you will see that the Lions marched up, down, and through the overhyped Olney defense all night long. Being the largest school in the LIC, which hasn’t lost a regular season game since 2023, Olney had no answer in trying to stop the Lions’ ground game. Marshall’s Lucca Giannavola rushed the ball 28 times while gaining 228 yards. When the Tigers’ defense loaded up the box to try and contain Giannavola (they never stopped him), Marshall used misdirection plays with Kaiden Sanders, Liam Keim, as well as quarterback keepers by sophomore Luke Brodie. For a change of pace, Marshall inserted sophomore running back Silas Dean, who sprinted through and around the Tigers’ defense at will. Down the stretch, freshman David Sherrell had some nice runs on the ground. Marshall’s offensive line won the line of scrimmage, pushing the Olney defensive line back seemingly on every play. When the Tigers stacked the box, the Lions would pull Boston Rollings to lead runners around through the seams.
For the game, Marshall outgained Olney on the ground with a season-high 427 yards on 52 carries to Olney’s 403. Marshall had 19 first downs to Olney’s 16. Olney had more total yards, 482 to 445, but when you examine the numbers, you would expect an extremely close game on the scoreboard. However, although the Lions had more success running the ball, a few miscues in the middle stages of the game changed the complexion as Olney defeated Marshall by the score of 57-19.
Marshall won the coin flip and elected to receive. Marshall freshman Preston Welsh gathered the opening kick and took the ball out to the Lions 31-yard line where the offense started with a first-and-ten. On the first series of downs, the Lions showed the large crowd on hand they were going to be in the fight all night long by going for it on fourth down in their own territory with the ball on their own 40. Lucca Giannavola took the 4th down handoff, and the L-Train powered his way up the middle for a Marshall first down. The drive stalled, though, and Marshall’s punt gave Olney the ball at their own 42-yard line. .
The Tigers methodically moved the ball down the field, but the Lions held strong, and with the ball sitting at the Marshall 18, Olney was facing a third-and-ten. On the next play, Olney’s Gavyn Cothern found Ian Pianfetti in the left corner of the end zone for an Olney touchdown. After the extra point kick was good, Olney led 7-0 with 5:01 to go in the first quarter.
Marshall began the ensuing drive at their own 20, and in just two running plays from scrimmage, the first by Kaiden Sanders and the second by Liam Keim, the Lions moved all the way to the Olney 29-yard line with a first-and-ten. On the next play, Lucca Giannavola ran off tackle to the right, and it took five Olney defenders to bring him to the ground. Three plays later, Giannavola ran up the middle from the 5-yard line for a Lions touchdown, and after Trip Gaines kicked the extra point, the game was tied up at 7 apiece with 2:17 to go in the opening quarter.
Three of the Lions’ miscues happened over the next 5 minutes of play which altered the entire course of play. On the kickoff after Giannavola’s touchdown, Olney ran the kickoff back to the house when Marshall lost lane integrity, and with the extra point good, Olney led 14-7. When Marshall got the ball back, they drove all the way down the field where they had a first-and-goal from the Olney 10-yard line. A high snap, followed by a small gain, then an offsides call on Olney’s defense moved the ball to the Tiger 5. On the next play, Olney jumped on a loose ball, and what could have been the tying touchdown turned into a critical turnover. Olney took advantage of the situation and drove 83 yards to paydirt to take a 21-7 lead with 8:55 to go in the first half.
The Olney crowd, which has witnessed recent success on the gridiron since the Tigers went from the basement of the Apollo Conference to the upper echelon of the Little Illini Conference in 2012, expected an easy rout, but they did not count on the fight of the Big Red. Certainly, being the largest school in the LIC has its benefits in being able to have more players who play just one way, but the opposite side of the coin is whether there is a benefit of playing schools three and four times smaller. Everything matters when preparing a team for the IHSA playoffs come late October. A little research of Olney’s record since moving into the LIC shows significant data. In the 13 years since making the move from the Apollo to the LIC, Olney has made the Class 4A playoffs 9 times. Of those nine trips to the state playoffs, they’ve won a playoff game only once (last year at home against a 5-4 Kewanee team before the Tigers were demolished by Normal University High the following week).
Getting back to the game, Marshall took the ensuing kickoff and kept riding the L-Train behind the O-Line down the field as Olney’s defense was getting gassed and had to make multiple defensive substitutions on the drive. The drive culminated in another Lucca Giannavola touchdown, this time from 3 yards out, and Marshall was suddenly down by one score (21-13) with just under four minutes to go before halftime. Olney tacked on another score with a half-minute to go before the break, and the first half ended with Olney leading by the score of 28-13.
In the second half, the depth of Olney extended their lead, but the Lions still gained yardage on the ground and scored another touchdown by Lucca Giannavola from 8 yards out in the fourth quarter. Olney scored a couple meaningless touchdowns down the stretch to make the score seem like the game was an easy win, but those in attendance will take away that these Lions are on the right track, and their goals are still there in front of them. One big note to take from this game was the stellar defensive play of Josef Stafford, who won his position battle against University of Illinois signee Casey Thomann, who stands 6’7” and tips the scales at 325. Stafford carried Thomann all around the field throughout the contest and finished with a team-high 10 tackles. Thomann even hugged Joe many, many times during the action. Outplaying a D-1 athlete on the field of battle can only propel Josef to dominate on defense as we move forward in the season.
Overall, the squad came out of the game with only a couple nicks here and bruises there as the Lions turn the page to their homecoming game at Bush Field against Robinson on Friday, September 26th. Kickoff for that game is set for 7:00 PM. Let’s fill the stands at Bush Field and support our student athletes.
Marshall stats:
Lucca Giannavola (28 carries for 228 yards and 3 touchdowns)
Liam Keim (7 carries for 48 yards and 2 receptions for 12 yards))
David Sherrell (3 carries for 36 yards)
Silas Dean (2 carries for 35 yards)
Kaiden Sanders (1 carry for 6 yards, 5 receptions for 40 yards)
Luke Brodie (7-11 passing for 52 yards, 7 carries for 32 yards)
