Marshall Academy falls by three to Irish Marshall and Benton counties

Missed opportunities often lead to a stinging loss, and such was the case Friday night for Marshall Academy’s football Patriots.

“I definitely thought that was a game that could have gone either way,” head coach Jake Hill said the morning after his Patriots’ 24-21 home loss to Greenville St. Joseph. “We probably played harder than we’ve played for four quarters yet. We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

A Marshall Academy (MA) turnover on its opening possession rolled back into its own end zone, where the Irish recovered for six. In the second quarter, trailing 12-8, the Patriots did not convert on four straight downs inside the St. Joe 5-yard line. Late in the first half, the Irish intercepted a pass in the end zone. Midway through the fourth, an MA fumble near the visiting team’s goal line went out of the back of the end zone for a touchback.

“We gave them that first touchdown. We had opportunities on offense. I’m not sure we didn’t score more than once on that drive (inside the 5),” said Hill, referring to close calls at the end zone boundary. “We had too many turnovers and penalties – we have to clean that stuff up.”

MA, trailing 12-0, cut its deficit to six at the 6:22 mark of the second period when Zane Hill and Brayden Thompson connected on a 10-yard pass play. Later in the quarter, the Patriots pulled to within four on a safety.

St. Joe scored twice in the third to go up 24-8. However, the Patriots kept battling.

Hill dove into the end zone from 2 yards out with 6:35 left in the game, and three minutes later Thompson returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown. With no timeouts, MA went to the onside kick, which wasn’t successful. St. Joe ran out the clock and exited with the hard-fought, three-point win. The Patriots (1-6) visit Greenville Christian (0-6) Friday night.