Article and photos by T Ray Henry
On Friday, October 16th, Marshall High School celebrated Senior Night for fall sports at Bush Field before the Lions took to the gridiron to take on the Newton High School Eagles in the final game of the regular season for both teams. On Thursday night, Marshall High School’s volleyball seniors were recognized inside McNary Gymnasium prior to their win over Casey-Westfield, and tonight, the student body, families, friends, and fans recognized the senior members from the Lions football team, football managers, cheerleaders, Marshallettes, golf team, cross country team, and Marching Band as they each walked along the 50-yard line towards the home sideline with members of their families.
With freshman quarterback Lathan Shotts making his first varsity start for Marshall, the Lions found themselves trailing behind the Eagles from their first defensive series until the final whistle as they lost by the score of 62-6. Newton, who ran up the score with every possession in order to improve their tiebreaker chances for playoff seeding, churned out total of 421 offensive yards which Marshall had no answer on defense for. The Lions managed just 146 yards in total offense, their second-lowest output of the season.
Marshall won the opening kickoff and elected to receive. The offense got a couple first downs on runs by Max Welsh, who led the Lions with 47 yards on the ground. Getting as far as their own 41, the offense stalled and the Lions had to punt the ball to Newton. On the Eagles first drive, they drove the length of the field and scored the game’s first touchdown with 6:02 left in the opening quarter. The extra point was good, and the Eagles led 7-0.
On the Lions’ second drive of the game, the offense switched to a Wildcat formation with Max Welsh at the helm. The Big Red drove the ball to midfield where they had to punt the ball again. Newton took the punt and returned the ball all the way to the Marshall 2-yard line, and after a run up the gut and the kick being no good, Newton led 13-0 with just under two minutes to go on the clock in the first quarter.
Two more touchdowns by Newton gave the visitors a 28-0 lead in the second quarter before the Marshall offense got moving again with runs by Max Welsh and Wyatt Geltz that got the Lions to midfield with a first down. On the next play from scrimmage at the 50-yard line, Marshall quarterback Lathan Shotts faked play action, turned, and threw a strike to Reed Ramey running up the right seam. Ramey caught the pass in stride and outran three defenders into the end zone for a Marshall touchdown, his first career receiving touchdown as well as Shotts’ first touchdown pass of his young career. After the extra point try was no good, Marshall trailed 28-6 with 6:22 to go before the half.
After Newton scored another touchdown to lead at halftime 35-6, Marshall kicked off to begin the second half. Newton began possession at their own 35-yard line to start their drive, and the drive took two plays and 20 seconds for another touchdown by the visitors to make the score 42-6. Three more touchdowns accounted for the final score of 62-6 as Newton improved to 6-3 on the season, while Marshall’s record fell to 3-6 after their worst defeat of the season.
In addition to Max Welsh’s 47 yards rushing to lead the Lions, Wyatt Geltz had 7 carries for 37 yards. Lathan Shotts was 2 of 7 through the air for 45 yards and a touchdown. Reed Ramey led the Big Red with one catch for 50 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Rocco Giannavola and Eli Thompson each had four tackles, while Josef Stafford had three. Fisher Bishop had two tackles, one of which was a tackle for a loss.
The focus for the Lions now shifts to their next game, where redemption awaits after Marshall was selected to play in the IHSA Class 2A state playoffs for the 31st time in school history. The Lions, seeded 19th in the southern bracket, have been scheduled to play at 14th seed Central A&M (Moweaqua) on Friday, October 23rd at 7:00 PM.
As we do this time of the year every year, the Lions wish all the teams from the Little Illini Conference good luck and good health this playoff season.
Lathan Shotts (3) made his first start at quarterback for Marshall
Max Welsh (23) led Marshall in rushing against Newton
Reed Ramey scores his first touchdown for Marshall on Senior Night
Marshall's student section braved the chilly temperatures to support the Lions on Senior Night
Wyatt Geltz (47) takes the misdirection handoff and gets the ball into Newton territory
