DISTRICTS: Goodrich vs. Marshall

**Joe Boisture throws downfield**

**Jamar Wimberly ties the game with his second TD**

**Jake Bourassa runs for his second TD**

**Kyle Elsworth dives for a completion**

Goodrich- If only the whole game could have been as easy as the first two drives were for Goodrich. The Martians looked flawless as they jumped out to a 14-0 lead in yesterday’s Division 4 district final. Unfortunately the Martians were unable to muster another point as they fell 24-14 to the visiting Marshall Redhawks.

Goodrich took a 7-0 lead on the game’s first play from scrimmage as Jake Bourassa ran nearly untouched for an 80 yard score. After forcing a three and out, Joe Boisture and his Martian offense were back in business. Goodrich mixed the pass and run to quickly move the ball downfield. A 15 yard pass from Boisture to Kyle Elsworth put the ball inside the 10 yard line and Bourassa finished the 8 play, 71 yard drive, with a 9 run to take a 14-0 lead with 7:55 to play in the first quarter.

But then Marshall woke up!

A fumble by Bourassa switched field position and Marshall took advantage on their next possession by giving Goodrich a heavy dose of Jamar Wimberly. The junior back used four rushes to gain 40 yards, and on his fifth rush he scored from 4 yards out to cut the deficit to 14-7 with 51 seconds to go in the first quarter.

Marshall's defense then put the pressure on Boisture. A sack by D-end Dave Giese put Goodrich back on the 1 yard line but on the ensuing play Boisture hit his tight end for a 8 yard gain but the tight end fumbled the football away, giving Marshall the short field. Marshall tied the game on a 1 yard dive from Wimberly to tie the game 14-14 with 10:21 in the second quarter.

The game belonged to both defenses from here on out as the score stuck at 14-14 at the half. Goodrich put their focus on Wimberly, taking away the Redhawk run game. Marshall used their D-line to continue to put pressure on Boisture and limit Bourassa.

Late in the third quarter Marshall punted the ball away and stuck Goodrich on their own 1 yard line. Two plays later Giese sacked Boisture for a safety to give Marshall their first lead at 16-14.

After the teams traded possession Goodrich punted the ball to Marshall's Blake Iobe. Iobe fumbled the ball but instantly picked it up, then dodged two diving Martians as he raced down the right sideline for a 93 yard run. Wimberly ran in the 2-point conversion to give Marshall a 24-14 lead going into the final quarter.

Goodrich managed to get down to the Marshall 31 yard line and went for it on 4th-and-1 but the Redhawks held ground and Goodrich never got any closer to scoring as Marshall ran most of the clock off in the final 5 minutes.

BREAKDOWN

Marshall- after watching warm-ups and especially the first four minutes of the game, I thought this was going to be a 40 point win for Goodrich. But the Redhawks are very, very well coached and disciplined. They made huge adjustments on both sides of the ball and while their offense struggled they made the needed plays on defense and special teams.

Marshall failed to complete a pass (0 for 9) and that will be a huge problem next week against Country day if they can't throw the ball.

Goodrich- just one of those games where everything that could go wrong- went wrong. The two first quarter fumbles allowed Marshall to crawl back in the game after they were dead quite from being down 14 quick points.

GAME MVP: Jamal Wimberly, Marshall the junior runs hard and his teammates feed off of his emotion. He finished with 116 yards and the two TDs on 27 rushes.

Marshall front four: Garrett Woods (DT), Zach Francs (DT), Dave Geise (DE), James Wimberly (DE)- Marshall's D-line consisted of all juniors. Wimberly is a 6-1/180 pound speed rusher but the other three lineman all go 6-2/230 pounds of muscle and they are all mean and know how to get after the quarterback.

Joe Boisture, Goodrich- the 6-6 junior QB just couldn't get comfortable or get into any kind of rhythm. He was sacked 6 times and couldn't do anything about it. He tried to dive out of the endzone during the safety but his knee was called down.