The Marshall Mavericks will face off against the Midlothian Heritage Jaguars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Marshall sitting on five straight victories and Midlothian Heritage on eight.
Marshall is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. Everything went their way against Montgomery as Marshall made off with a 35-14 win. The Mavericks might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine matches by 21 points or more this season.
Marshall relied on the efforts of Alton Henderson, who rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries, and Semaj Gatson, who rushed for 167 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.4 yards per carry. Those 128 rushing yards gave Henderson a new career-high. Isaiah Bush handled things on the ground, rushing for 86 yards.
Marshall was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 381 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 152 rushing yards in 11 consecutive matchups.
Marshall wouldn't let Montgomery keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Jayden Cooks was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance.
Meanwhile, Midlothian Heritage got themselves on the board against Seagoville on Thursday, but Seagoville never followed suit. They blew past the Dragons, posting a 65-0 victory. Given the Jaguars' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 134th, while the Dragons are ranked 840th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Brad Waxler had a dynamite game for Midlothian Heritage, throwing for 192 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 passes, while also rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown on only six carries. Waxler got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 67 yards. Another player making a difference was Malik Crutcher, who rushed for 79 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries.
Marshall pushed their record up to 9-2 with the win, which was their fourth straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 26.5 points. As for Midlothian Heritage, their record now sits at 8-3.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Marshall has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 291.8 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Midlothian Heritage struggles in that department as they've been averaging 236.3. It's looking like Friday's game might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Marshall came up short against Midlothian Heritage in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, falling 21-14. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Midlothian Heritage's Carter Rutenbar, who rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries, and also threw for 127 yards and a touchdown. Now that Marshall knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
