On Friday, October 10th, the Marshall High School football team played host to Lawrenceville High School at Bush Field on the campus of Marshall High School on a picturesque evening in east central Illinois. The Lions came into the contest with a record of 3-3, while the Indians came in with a record of 1-5. The Indians’ record, however, belies how they have started games in four of their previous five outings. Beginning with a 22-point win over Carlisle five weeks ago, Lawrenceville experienced early leads in their games versus conference-leader Olney as well as Paris and Robinson before falling behind in those games. Marshall’s mission tonight was to start fast and prevent the Indians from garnering any momentum in this Little Illini Conference clash as the Lions make a playoff run for the first time since 2017.
Lawrenceville won the opening coin flip and elected to defer to the second half, so the Lions elected to receive the ball. Silas Dean caught the kick at his own 2-yard line and brought it back to the Marshall 26 where they began their opening drive. On the first play from scrimmage, Marshall ran a counter with Liam Keim over the right side, and Keim brought the ball out to the Lions 34-yard line where they had a second-and-2. On the next play from scrimmage, Marshall’s Lucca Giannavola took the handoff and ran the ball through the right side while carrying a Lawrenceville defender all the way to the Indians 45 for a first down. With that 21-yard run, Giannavola went over the 1,000-yard mark in rushing on the season.
After the Lions were brought back to midfield, they faced a third-and-14 from the 50. A handoff to Lucca Giannavola went up the middle for 41 yards to the Indians’ 9-yard line and a Marshall first down. Giannavola then plunged the ball down to the 1 before quarterback Luke Brodie ran it in for a Marshall touchdown. After the two-point try was good when Lucca Giannavola ran it in on the right side, and with 8:31 to go in the first quarter, Marshall led 8-0.
Lawrenceville began their first drive on their own 32 after the Marshall touchdown and two-point conversion, and the Indians went three-and-out. Marshall’s Gavyn Boden made a nice fair catch on a wobbler at the Lions 32-yard line where they began their second possession of the game. Marshall mixed it up in the running game to work the ball down into the red zone through the end of the first quarter into the start of the second, but the drive stalled at the Lawrenceville 9-yard line where Marshall turned the ball over on downs.
After Lawrenceville couldn’t get anything going on their next drive, they punted the ball back to the Lions. A carom on the punt hit the turf, and Kaiden Sanders jumped on the ball for Marshall to prevent a costly turnover. With 9:20 to go in the first half, Sanders prevented Lawrenceville from capitalizing and looking for the equalizer. After a short gain, Marshall quarterback Luke Brodie launched a deep pass down the left sideline to Kaiden Sanders, who was draped all over by Lawrenceville’s 6’4” Jacek Mickiewicz. Sanders jumped up, twisted his body to shield the defender, and caught the pass for a big gain down to the Lawrenceville 14. Three plays later, Lucca Giannavola ran it in from 7 yards out. After the two-point try was no good, Marshall led 14-0 with 7:35 to go until halftime.
On the ensuing drive, Lawrenceville looked to start throwing the ball. On first down, Marshall’s Bryer Jansen sacked Lawrenceville quarterback Blayton Gossett for a loss. A penalty on the Lions moved the ball to midfield, and a pass play to the Marshall 37 gave the Indians a first down. A tackle for a loss by Bryer Jansen, followed by an unsportsmanlike penalty on Lawrenceville got the Indians behind the chains back to the Lawrenceville 45. On the next play, Lawrenceville tried to get a big chunk of yardage back, but Marshall’s Kaiden Sanders intercepted Gossett’s pass at the Marshall 36 with 4 ½ minutes to go in the half.
With the Lions facing a third-and-3 from the Marshall 43, Luke Brodie took the snap with an empty backfield and lofted a pass downfield to Bryce Griguhn, who caught the ball and ran all the way to the Lawrenceville 37. Kaiden Sanders then ran a jet sweep down to near the red zone. A couple catches by Gavyn Boden brought the ball down into the red zone. The Big Red then ran behind their offensive line, first with Liam Keim, then with Lucca Giannavola into the end zone from one yard out. With the extra try no good, Marshall led 20-0 with 21.6 seconds to go before the half.
On their first possession of the second half, Lawrenceville went on a touchdown drive which took 5:01 off the clock in the third quarter, and with Marshall leading 20-7, the Lions took over on their own Lawrenceville 42 after a big kickoff return by Gavyn Boden, who caught the kickoff at the Marshall 21. Luke Brodie scrambled to the Lawrenceville 30 on first down to give the Lions a first down. Lucca Giannavola then took a handoff on the next play, and he broke two tackles before carrying an Indians defender into the end zone for a touchdown. Marshall now led 26-7 with 6:03 to go in the third quarter.
The Lions stopped Lawrenceville on the next drive, and the Big Red took over at their own 10-yard line. A 58-yard catch and run by Liam Keim got the Lions out from the shadow of their own end zone. On the next play, Lucca Giannavola rushed off tackle on the right side inside the red zone. A change of pace at running back with Silas Dean tested the perimeter defense of the Indians, and Dean rushed the ball into the red zone when he outraced the Lawrenceville defense to the pylon from 2 yards out. On the two-point try, Luke Brodie connected on a pass to Kaiden Sanders, and with 2:42 to go in the quarter, Marshall led 34-7.
From that point on, the Lions were content to chew up yardage and the clock, and in a fast fourth quarter, no more scoring by either side brought the clock down to zeros. The final score was Marshall 34, Lawrenceville 7.
The Lions dominated in all phases of the contest, outgaining Lawrenceville 440-145 in total yards, and they never punted. Senior running back Lucca Giannavola rushed the ball 26 times for 208 yards and three touchdowns. He now has 19 total touchdowns on the season, 17 of them on the ground. On his first carry from scrimmage, Giannavola passed the 1,000-yard plateau in rushing for the season. Sophomore quarterback Luke Brodie was 5 for 9 through the air for 129 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, Lucca Giannavola led the team with 10 tackles, while senior linebacker Liam Keim finished with 9.
For this year's senior class, which began their collective high school careers in 2022 by going 0-9 during their freshman season, they won Marshall's first game in over four years during their sophomore season, then they won two games last year, these Lions are now one win away from playoff eligibility with two games to go in the regular season, which is a remarkable turnaround.
Marshall (4-3) returns to action Friday night, October 17th, when they host Mount Carmel at Bush Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Prior to the game, Marshall senior athletes from the football team, cheerleading squad, Marshallettes, marching band, golf team, and cross-country team will be recognized along with their parents beginning at 6:30. Win or lose, after the game, Marshall’s football players will participate in the traditional class walk from end zone to end zone as part of the Lions’ Senior Night activities.