Published: November 08, 2009 12:12 am         

Marshall moves on in Illinois 2A football playoffs

Marshall, Ill. — Marshall recorded its third shutout of the high school football season Saturday, defeating Williamsville 16-0 in a second-round Illinois Class 2A playoff game.

The Lions have won 10 in a row since losing the season opener to Casey and will face the Warriors in a quarterfinal contest at Casey.

That game probably will be played Saturday afternoon at Casey; the exact schedule will be announced Monday by the Illinois High School Association.

Marshall scored the only the touchdown it needed in the first period while the defense recovered one Williamsville fumble, intercepted two passes and stopped the Bullets five times in the red zone to earn its spot in the quarterfinals.

Marshall stopped the Bullets in the final period on a first-and-5 situtation and then ran out the clock — just over eight minutes — to nail down the victory.

Marshall coach Todd Evers said line play by his team was the difference in the contest played in sunny, warm conditions.

“Our offensive and defensive lines … were manhandling people on that last drive because they were in better shape. I won’t say they dominated up front because Williamsville had some pretty good people,” he said.

Taylor Duncan again had top stats for the game. The senior quarterback completed 9 of 18 passes for 50 yards with one interception and rushed for 142 yards and one touchdown.

He also had his third interception of the season and averaged 46.3 yards punting with a long one of 59 yards.

Sophomore Jared Boyll also had an interception — his third — and recovered the fumble that set up the final Marshall score.

Andre Strohm rushed for 88 yards and scored the other Marshall touchdown while Luke Nelson kicked an extra point and a 27-yard field goal.

Marshall needed 10 plays to drive 80 yards for its first touchdown with Duncan scoring on a 6-yard run.

Duncan had a 23-yard run in the drive and completed a 16-yard pass to brother Jacob to give the Lions a first down at the 6-yard line and he scored on the next play.

The Bullets had a first down at the Marshall 6 on their next possession but the drive ended on the 3.

The Lions were forced to punt on their next possession when Duncan was sacked for the only time in the game. He picked off a Josh Gentile pass on Williamsville’s second play of the ensuing series and Nelson kicked his field goal to turn a turnover into points and give Marshall a 9-0 lead at halftime.

The Bullets got to the Marshall 18 on the first drive of the second half but fell four yards short of a first down to continue the drive.

Duncan threw his only interception of the playoffs on the second play of the Marshall possession and Gentile’s 14-yard run gave the Bullets a first down at the 12, but Boyll recovered a fumble followiing a bad snap to stymie the visitors again.

That takeaway led to the final score of the day capped by Strohm’s 9-yard run. Taylor Duncan had a 29-yard run to give the Lions a first down at the Bullets’ 33.

Williamsville began its final drive at its own 31 and had a first down at the Marshall 5-yard line but the Lions held again, with Lee Combs putting the final stop on Gentile’s fourth-down rush that ended in a loss of four yards.

Marshall took over and maintained possession until the end with Duncan taking a knee to end the action.

“Our offensive line was getting the job done but we knew we could do that. We did it against Mahomet-Seymour in week two,” said coach Evers.

“Our defensive philosophy is bend but don’t break and don’t give up the big play. I am very proud of the defense. It is getting better every week. A shutout in a Sweet Sixteen game is huge,” he said.

Looking to the next game in the playoffs against Casey, the coach said, “This is a game we’ve been thinking about … it’s been on the back burners … you can’t look ahead. Now it has happened,” he said.

“It’s not every time you get a second shot at your biggest rival. We really want it. There’s no doubt it will be the toughest game we have had to this point,” he added.

The Warriors beat Marshall 28-7 in the opener for the Lions’ only defeat.



Marshall 16, Williamsville 0

Williamsville 0 0 0 0 — 0

Marshall 6 3 7 0 — 16

M — T. Duncan 6 run (kick failed) 4:26 1Q

M — Nelson 27 FG 0.01 2Q

M — Strohm 9 run (Nelson kick) 4:05 3Q

W M

First downs 13 16

Rushes-yards 17-120 48-247

Passing yards 138 50

Comp-att-int 10-22-2 9-18-1

Return yards 31 26

Punts-avg. 1-51 3-46.3

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-35 4-27

Individual leaders

Rushing — Williamsville: Gentile 13-74, Willis 4-6, Gerding 4-9, Strocher 6-31; Marshall: T.Duncan 23-142, Strohm 21-88, Combs 4-22.

Passing — Williamsville: Gentile 10-22-2, 138 yards; Marshall: T.Duncan 9-18-1, 50 yards

Receiving — Williamsville: Roscetti 2-11, Combs 6-95, Alexander 1-7, Gerding 1-25; Marshall: Morey 3-22, J.Duncan 28

Next — Marshall (10-1) meets Casey (11-0) in a Class 2A quarterfinal game at Casey with time and day to be announced. Williamsville finished 9-2.