Marshall County is on a five-game streak of home wins, while Pearl-Cohn is on a three-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Tigers will challenge the Firebirds at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Marshall County's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last seven contests.
Marshall County is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They blew past Dyer County 41-14. The result was nothing new for the Tigers, who have now won seven matchups by 27 points or more so far this season.
Tot Gardner produced another solid performance rushing for 261 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.7 yards per carry. His longest rush was for an incredible 73 yards. Tyler Thompson was another key player, throwing for 212 yards and one TD.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Marshall County was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 338 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 150 rushing yards in nine consecutive games.
Marshall County's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB four times. Bowen Poarch refused to say out of the backfield, picking up 1.5 sacks all by himself.
Meanwhile, Pearl-Cohn didn't have too much trouble with Crockett County on Friday as they won 35-21.
Pearl-Cohn's win came from a few key players Marshall County will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Omarion Starnes, who rushed for 83 yards and one score on only eight carries, and also picked up 68 receiving yards. Another player making a difference was LJ FUNK, who threw for 269 yards and a pair of touchdowns while completing 81.2% of his passes.
Marshall County's victory bumped their record up to 9-3. As for Pearl-Cohn, their win bumped their record up to 8-4.
| Rushing Yards | 1,067 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 21 |
Friday's contest will pit two of the most dominant backs against one another: Gardner and Starnes. Gardner just won't slow down this season and has run in 21 touchdowns while averaging 88.9 rushing yards per game. Starnes has been a dominant force too and has run in 10 touchdowns while averaging 72.1 rushing yards per game.
Marshall County came up short against Pearl-Cohn when the teams last played back in November of 2024, falling 27-21. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Starnes, who rushed for 80 yards and three TDs. Now that the Tigers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
