Owensboro had to overcome a trio of turnovers and a resilient push from Marshall County, but the Red Devils came away with a 21-14 road victory Thursday night to push their win streak to three and stay undefeated in district play.
The miscues started early for OHS (4-3) when a bad snap on 4th-and-1 at the Marshals’ 36-yard line led to a fumble. MCHS (3-4) drove 69 yards for a score, but a missed extra point attempt left their lead at 6-0.
The Red Devils responded quickly. Quarterback Trevor DeLacey found Kingston Dillard for a 26-yard gain, setting up a 12-yard touchdown carry by Evan Hampton to give OHS a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter.
After trading punts, Marshall County went 3-and-out again to give the ball back to the Red Devils. A 30-yard touchdown pass was called back for offensive pass interference, and a few plays later a receiver bobbled a catch and the ball bounced straight into the hands of an MCHS defender, who returned it 27 yards to the Marshals’ 37.
The Marshals’ drive ended just past midfield when they failed to covert on 4th down with 1:19 to play in the half.
The Red Devils moved the ball quickly and capped off their drive with a 3-yard touchdown run by Hampton, pushing their lead to 14-6 just before halftime.
Dillard returned the second-half kickoff 54 yards to set up a short field for OHS. Hampton ran the ball in from the 11, but a holding call negated the touchdown. MCHS then got another interception, this time in the end zone.
The teams traded punts the rest of the third quarter, with most drives going 3-and-out.
Marshall County broke through with a 3-yard touchdown run plus a 2-point conversion with 9:13 to play.
After again trading punts, OHS took over on their own 10. A face mask penalty and a big run by Hampton moved them to their own 44, but DeLacey was then sacked for a 14-yard loss. However, on 3rd-and-17, DeLacey hit Dillard for a 28-yard gain. Hampton scored from 36 yards out on the next play, stiff-arming a defender en route to paydirt.
Down 21-14 with 3:30 to play, Marshall made one final push. They got into the red zone but Owensboro’s Tre Shemwell intercepted a pass in the end zone with 20 seconds to play to seal the win.
Owensboro is off next week, returning to action on October 18 with a road game at Muhlenberg County.
