Early setbacks costly to Patriots

It was a tough night versus the run for the Marshall Academy Patriots.

Carroll Academy un­leashed a potent rushing attack and left Holly Springs with a 37-6 win in the District 1-AA match-up. The Rebels had 58 rushing plays and just three passes.

“Power teams are the hardest for us to defend,” coach Barrett Donahoe said. “We didn’t play well enough in the trenches.”

It looked promising for the Patriots offensively in the early going.

MA, after receiving the opening kickoff, drove 55 yards to the Carroll 15 but then fumbled the ball away.

“The whole thing could have been different if we could have taken the lead there,” Donahoe said. “If wepunch it in, we put the pressure on them.”

The Rebels unleashed a 77-yard, six-play scoring drive on their first possession. Hunter Brackin got the touchdown on a 19-yard run. Logan Taylor cashed in the two-point conversion.

The Marshall offense got it in gear once again. Wyle McMillen kept the ball for a pair of first downs, the second one 30 yards to the Carroll 13. But MA could not convert on a fourth and 2 from the 5.

“That’s how quickly a game can change,” Donahoe told his team after the game. “The difference between winning and losing is so small.”

Carroll, which dominated the time of possession in the game, drove 95 yards on 13 running plays to up its lead. Morgan Mims scored on a 33-yard quarterback keeper. Jeb Beck tacked on the conversion run. It was 16-0 with 6:44 to go in the second quarter.

The Patriots bounced back for their only score.

Starting at MA’s own 44, Phillip Parks ran for 12 yards into Rebel territory. He capped the six-play drive with a 30-yard touchdown run up the middle. A pass attempt for the conversion fell incomplete.

Carroll ate up the rest of the first-half clock with a 63-yard, 11-play drive. Ten plays were rushes. The other was a 19-yard pass from Mims to Gavin Wiltshire for a touchdown. It came on a fourth-and-one play. The Rebels also passed for the two-pointer and a 24-6 lead at intermission.

The visiting squad started the second half the way it left off the first 24 minutes. Carroll unleashed a long drive that ate almost seven minutes off the clock. However, it ended when MA’s Darian Houston intercepted a pass near the end zone and returned it 25 yards.

The Marshall offense couldn’t produce – going four downs and out.

“They had that long drive to start the second half and then we got the pick,” Coach Donahoe said. “We had to have something there (offensively.) We didn’t get it and that was on me.”

The two teams swapped turnovers next.

Then with 5:42 left in the game, Brackin scored on a 6-yard run for Carroll. The conversion try failed. It was 30-6.

The Rebels added one last score with 2:47 to go in the game. Mims did the honors from 6 yards out. Wiltshire kicked the extra point.

MA, 0-3 in the district, had 195 yards total offense – 160 rushing and 35 passing. Parks ran 11 times for 76 yards and McMillen 15 for 74.

Top tacklers on defense were Will Hanggi with 14 and a half, and Everette Jones, Elijah McCarter and Houston with eight each. Devarius Harris had seven.

The Patriots (3-5) will host non-district, Class 3A opponent North Delta this Friday night.

North Delta is also 3-5, coming off a 35-12 loss to Magnolia Heights last week.