On Friday, October 3rd, the Marshall High School football team traveled to the western edge of Clark County to play Casey-Westfield High School in a Little Illini Conference game at Sinclair-Vidoni Field in Casey. Marshall came into the game with a record of 3-2, while Casey-Westfield, ranked #5 in IHSA Class 1A, came in with a record of 5-0.
After Casey-Westfield scored early in the contest to take a 7-0 lead, the Lions fought back and scored a touchdown when Lucca Giannavola ran the ball in from 1 yard out. After the conversion try was no good, the Lions trailed 7-6. On the kickoff immediately following Marshall’s touchdown, the Lions’ Trip Gaines pulled off a perfect onside kick and the Lions recovered the football. The Lions proceeded to run through the Warriors defense like no other team had done thus far this season. Marshall drove the ball all the way down the field and scored a touchdown when Lucca Giannavola plowed in from 2 yards out. A two-point conversion pass by Giannavola to Liam Keim was good for a score, and all of a sudden, the Lions led the Warriors 14-7 as the home crowd sat in stunned silence.
The final two minutes of the first half alone were worth the price of admission, with the two teams combining for 25 points in quick succession. Marshall had the ball after starting a drive at their own 11. The Lions worked the ball out to the 33 where they faced a third down and four yards to go. Lions quarterback Luke Brodie faked a hand-off and threw the ball to Kaiden Sanders on a slant pattern. Sanders caught the ball in stride and weaved his way across the field. Once he hit the edge, Sanders outran the entire Casey-Westfield defense for a 67-yard touchdown. A counter-play on the two-point conversion by Liam Keim was good, and with 1:45 left before the half, Marshall was ahead 22-7.
A run by Casey’s Nolan Clement on a quarterback keeper gave the Warriors the ball in Marshall territory. Another run put the Warriors on the Lions 27 before a holding call on Casey-Westfield moved the ball back to the Marshall 37. As the clock winded down under a minute, the Warriors scored a touchdown. With the two-point conversion good, the Marshall lead was 22-15 with 57 ticks left on the clock until halftime.
On the ensuing kickoff, Marshall’s Silas Dean fielded the kick at his own 9-yard line. Dean followed his blockers up the middle, then he sprinted to an opening on the right side where he had just one man to beat. He bolted past the Casey-Westfield kicker and outran everyone to the house for another Marshall touchdown. After the two-point try was no good, Marshall led 28-15 with 45 seconds to go in the half. A Casey-Westfield 34-yard field goal at the end of the half made the score Marshall 28, Casey-Westfield 18.
In the first half, Marshall gained a total of 330 yards against a Warriors team which had stuffed opponents on the ground, through the air, and in the return game. In the first half, Marshall gained 104 yards on the ground (97 yards and 2 TDs from Lucca Giannavola), 124 through the air (121 yards passing and a TD from Luke Brodie), and a huge 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Silas Dean.
On Casey-Westfield’s first drive of the second half, they tried a fake on fourth down in punt formation. Casey-Westfield’s Nolan Clement was stuffed at midfield short of the marker, and the Lions took over on downs. On the first play from scrimmage for Marshall after the turnover on downs, a play-action fake and slant pass from Luke Brodie to Kaiden Sanders brought the Big Red another strike for a touchdown when Sanders outran all the Warriors across the field and down the right sideline to the end zone. With the two point try short of the goal line, Marshall was now out in front of Casey-Westfield 34-18 with 9 minutes and change left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing possession for Casey-Westfield, the Warriors went three and out as the Marshall pass defense didn’t give the Warriors offense a good look. The Lions took over at their own 30 after the punt and return by Marshall’s Gavyn Boden. A first down run by Lucca Giannavola, a second down run by Liam Keim, and a third down run by Giannavola gave the Lions a first down. The drive stalled, however, and Marshall punted the ball back to Casey-Westfield where the Warriors began their next drive at their own 47.
Casey-Westfield scored on a pass play with 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter, and after a two-point try was good, Marshall’s lead was down to 8 points with the score 34-26.
Marshall began the next drive at their own 15. After a Giannavola run, the third quarter ended with the Lions holding an 8-point lead. Marshall couldn’t generate anything on the drive and got behind the chains, so they punted the ball back to Casey-Westfield where the Warriors began the drive in Marshall territory.
A big fourth down and three from the Marshall 21 resulted in a touchdown for Casey-Westfield with 8:36 to go in the fourth quarter. After the two-point try was good, the teams were all tied up at 34.
Casey-Westfield recovered an onside kick on the next play to take over possession at the Marshall 45. They marched the ball down the field and scored a touchdown and two-point conversion to take a 42-34 lead with 7:42 to go on the clock.
The Lions began their next drive after taking the kickoff back to the 22 with somehow no time running off the clock. Two rushes set the Lions with a third down and four at their own 28. Marshall couldn’t convert the first down, and Casey-Westfield took over possession deep inside Marshall territory. Another Warriors touchdown and extra points made the score 50-34 with 3:12 to go.
The Lions continued to struggle generating any momentum, and after most everything went right during the first half and the majority of the third quarter, nothing went right the rest of the way. In the end, Marshall came up on the short end of the scoreboard with the final score Casey-Westfield 50, Marshall 34.
For the Lions, Lucca Giannavola rushed the ball 26 times for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns. Luke Brodie had 5 completions in 7 attempts for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kaiden Sanders caught 3 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns. Silas Dean was brilliant in the kick return game, scoring a touchdown on a 91-yard return which gave the Lions a 16-point lead in the second quarter. On defense, Josef Stafford led the Lions with 10 tackles, while Lucca Giannavola finished with 8.
Marshall (3-3) returns to action Friday night, October 10th, when they host Lawrenceville at Bush Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 7pm.
