Strong first half carries MA to win

A productive first half led to a road win Friday night for Marshall Academy.

The Patriots put 24 of their points on the scoreboard in the opening 24 minutes and left Walnut with a dominant 31-8 victory.

“We played really well the first half,” head coach Tony Banks said. “We took what they were giving us. We had some big runs inside, and the passing game was working.

“Our defense played lights out all night. They couldn’t run the football against us.” Quarterback Landon Houston got the Patriots on the scoreboard with a 17-yard touchdown run in the last minute of the opening quarter.

About 20 seconds later, Hayes Henry picked off a pass and returned it 35 yards for six points.

Second-quarter touchdowns came on Colton Neal’s 15-yard run, and a Houston to Jimmy Morales pass covering 27 yards.

MA did not get any conversions after the touchdowns. It was 24-0 at intermission.

“We definitely have to get better there (on the conversions),” Banks said.

The second half was sloppy for the Marshall offense, according to the head coach.

“We had about five bad snaps, and we had a touchdown called back with two flags on the same play,” he said. “It was just stuff like that the whole second half.”

Walnut sliced its deficit to 24-8 on a touchdown run and two-point conversion.

The Patriots’ only touchdown of the second half came on a 38-yard pass from Houston to Rusty Bolden, and MA added the extra point.

“Offensively, we scored 31 points, and it was a win, but we have to get some consistency,” Banks said. “I thought our offensive line, considering the changes we had to make, held up well and did a good job overall.”

He said with running backs Jack Smith, Neal and Ethan Helton having to play defense, too, Vincent Wang ran the ball well and “gave us some spark.”

Defensively, Hayes Henry and Morales each had a pair of interceptions for Marshall.

Coach Banks named Nic Henry the most valuable player for the game. He said he had a really good night on defense, plus “crushed some guys on lead blocking” on the offensive side of the football.

The Patriots (4-1 overall and 1-0 in District 1-4A) will host district foe Lee Academy this Friday night for homecoming. The Colts (1-5) got their first win of the season last week, 55-20 over Rossville Christian Academy (Tenn.).

“Lee has some really good athletes, and we have to be ready to play,” Banks said. “We have to compete at a high level in order to win this football game.”