Patriots win by 30 over Fighting Irish

The Marshall Academy offense continues to light up the scoreboard.

The latest victim was Greenville St. Joseph, as the Patriots picked up their fifth straight win, 58-28 on the road. MA, 6-1 on the season, has scored 40 or more points in five of their six victories.

“That team (the Fighting Irish) is a lot better than their record shows (2-5),” said Chris Bunio, head coach of the Patriots. “They have a lot of good-looking players. We played hard; we played well; we played tough; and we played with a lot of passion.”

Marshall was up 30-14 at the half, and then St. Joe returned the kickoff for a touchdown and added a twopoint conversion to slice the deficit to eight.

“We bounced back and were able to pull away,” Bunio said. “We didn’t have any turnovers in the game, and that was a huge help. Other than a few penalties, we played really good football.”

Quarterback Conner Floyd sparked the offensive outburst, Bunio said, along with Savion McGee, Ashton Franklin and Devin Snow. MA only punted once in the game, that coming in the first quarter. Leading the defensive effort, he said, were Jase Akins and K.J. Luse.

The Patriots close the regular season with three consecutive District 1-3A games, starting with West Memphis (Ark.) Christian School this Friday night at home. The Black Knights are 2-5 on the season.

“The season has gone by fast,” Bunio said. “It’s the time of year when you have to be playing your best football. I believe our guys see that they can compete with anyone if they play well and play hard.”