A trio of big plays and a key injury late in the first half were too much for the Todd County Central Rebels to overcome Friday night. Marshall County took a 19-6 second quarter lead and made it stand up, as the Marshals held off the Rebels 19-14 in wet and windy conditions in Elkton.
The Rebels found themselves very much in the game, trailing only 19-14 at the half. However, the Rebel offense was greatly limited in the second half after starting quarterback Preston Moore went down with what appeared to be a significant leg injury on Todd County Central’s final drive of the opening half.
Marshall County got on the board on the game’s opening possession. Kameron Bowerman scored from two yards out with 9:42 to go in the first quarter to put the Marshals up 6-0. The score was set up by a 64 yard pass completion from Quinn Smith to Griffin Darnall.
After a blocked punt by Chase Wells set them up on a short field, the Rebels evened things up late in the opening quarter. Preston Moore found Nate Reding for an 11 yard touchdown pass with 16.7 seconds left to tie the game at 6-6.
The Rebels appeared to be rolling after stopping the Marshals on the very next possession. However, a fumble for the Rebels set Marshall County up in good field position, and the Marshals would take advantage. On the first play after the turnover, Quinn Smith hooked up with Logan Reese for a 64 yard score to put the Marshals back in front 13-6 with 7:00 to go in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Todd Central mishandled the ball near the sideline, and Marshall County recovered. The Marshals drove the ball down the short field, capping off the drive with Smith and Reese hooking up for a second time in the quarter, this one from 11 yards out to make it 19-6 with 4:32 to go in the half. The Rebels blocked the extra point, giving them two blocked extra points and a blocked punt in the first half.
Todd County Central appeared to take the momentum back going into the half. The Rebels followed up the Marshall County score by driving the ball down the field, finishing off the drive with a two yard run from Omarion Riddick, which cut the lead to 19-14, after the two point conversion, with 48.6 seconds to go in the half.
The drive though turned out to be very costly. Starting quarterback Preston Moore was injured during the drive and did not return for the rest of the night.
With Moore out of the lineup, the Rebel offense became significantly more one dimensional, with the Marshal defense keying almost entirely on the running game. Todd County’s possessions in the second half ended with a punt, an interception, a failed fake punt, a punt, and being stopped on downs inside the final two minutes.
The Todd County Central defense kept the Rebels in position to have a shot at winning the contest, holding the Marshall County offense to just 64 yards and four first downs in the second half.
Marshall County did the job on the defensive side as well, holding the Rebels to 77 second half yards and five first downs.
Omarion Riddick finished the night with 130 yards on 24 carries. Preston Moore had 38 yards on 9 carries before going down with the injury. Moore was also 6-7 for 35 yards through the air. Nate Reding caught four of the passes for 22 yards.
Quinn Smith finished 9-20-1 through the air for the Marshals for 207 yards. Of that total, 186 yards came in the opening half.
Todd Central falls to 3-3 on the season. The Rebels travel to McLean County next Friday night for their final district game of the season.
