Rhys Owens
10-8-24
This past weekend in Joan C. Edwards Stadium on a Saturday afternoon, the Marshall Thundering Herd took on the Appalachian State Mountaineers in the Herd’s 1st conference game of the season. Both teams and fans could feel the heat in Huntington on a sunny 82-degree day.
The 1st quarter began with Marshall kicking the ball off, resulting in a touchback. Starting at the 25-yard line, App State would go 3 & out, getting ready to punt after a 3rd down sack by Marshall defensive lineman Mike Green. The punt to Marshall was returned by wide receiver Elijah Metcalf for 10 yards up to the Marshall 47; however, an illegal motion by App State would set Marshall up in opposing territory at the 48-yard line.
After the offense took the field, a run heavy drive would begin with a 5-yard rush up the middle by quarterback Braylon Braxton. On the next play running back AJ Turner would hit the right side for a 6-yard gain and a Herd first down. Braxton would then take a snap out of shotgun and hit the middle exploding for a 30-yard gain on the ground setting his offense up at the 7-yard line. An App State offsides would move the Herd to the 3-yard line making it easy for Braylon Braxton to run into the endzone for the first score of the game giving Marshall a 6-0 lead.
After a successful extra point, the Herd would kick off to the Mountaineers, resulting in a touchback. A slow but steady App State drive highlighted by quarterback Joey Aguilar’s 2 rushes for 29 yards would result in a 42-yard field goal by kicker Jackson Moore. The rest of the 1st quarter would see a punt from Marshall as well as a 6-minute App State drive setting them up on the Marshall 10-yard line heading into the 2nd quarter.
To start the second quarter the Mountaineers would hit the ground quickly. Handing it off to running back Kanye Roberts, who took it 10-yards for a touchdown making it 9-7, giving App State their first lead of the night. A successful extra point would make the score 10-7, App State would then kick the ball off to the Marshall 10, giving safety Ian Johnson the chance to make a play; Johnson would bring the ball to the 24-yard line setting the Herd up in their own territory. After a 1-yard gain by Braylon Braxton on the ground, the Marshall quarterback would hit running back Jordan Houston on a short route, Houston would explode up the sideline for a 75-yard touchdown, putting the Herd back in control with a 13-10 lead.
A beautiful boot from Marshall kicker Rece Verhoff would put the Mountaineers on their own 14-yard line, and on the very first play of the drive, Joey Aguilar would throw a short pass to wide receiver Makai Jackson. The pass would be bobbled and intercepted by Marshall linebacker J’Coryan Anderson, who would take it into the endzone for a pick 6, making the score 20-10.
After a successful extra point try and a 13-play, 54-yard drive by App State, the Mountaineers kicker Jackson Moore would line up for a 39-yard field goal. However, he would miss the field goal, giving Marshall great field position. Despite beginning the drive with a 2-yard loss on an AJ Turner run, the Herd would find themselves on their own 49-yard line.
On 2nd & 10 Braylon Braxton would hit a gap, gaining 9 yards; a facemask penalty would also be called on App State safety Avarion Cole putting the Herd on the Mountaineer 27-yard line. Due to the facemask, Braylon Braxton would come off the field, replaced by quarterback Stone Earle for a down. Earle would wind up and launch a pass deep left to wide receiver Carl Chester; the pass was incomplete due to pass interference from App State defensive back Ethan Johnson.
The 15-yard pass interference penalty would put Marshall inside the redzone, and after subbing back onto the field, Braylon Braxton would find running back Ethan Payne for an 8-yard gain. After an incomplete pass, the Herd would find themselves on 2nd down with 5 to gain. Braylon Braxton would then complete a short pass to AJ Turner for a touchdown, giving Marshall a commanding 27-10 lead.
However, the Mountaineers would empty the tank in the final drive of the half, marching down the field and scoring a touchdown on a 21-yard pass from Joey Aguilar to wide receiver Dalton Stroman. After an extra point and kickoff by App State, Marshall would kneel the ball, letting the clock bleed, taking a 28-17 lead into halftime.
The Herd came into the 3rd quarter with all the momentum, having the lead and receiving the 2nd half kickoff. Jordan Houston would bring the ball up to the Marshall 28-yard line after a 17-yard return. Sadly, this drive would fizzle out for Marshall, forcing them to punt the ball back to App State. Luckily, the Herd defense came to play, forcing App State and signal caller Joey Aguilar to punt once again.
After a steady drive, the Herd would settle in on the Mountaineer 29-yard line, AJ Turner would pop on 2nd & 10 rushing for 29-yards and a Marshall score. A good extra point later, and Marshall held a dominating 35-17 lead, showing no signs of letting up. Once again on the next Mountaineer drive, Joey Aguilar would throw an interception, this time to safety Jacobie Henderson. The interception, which set Marshall up on the App State 29, would not end in a touchdown but rather a Rece Verhoff field goal from 38 yards out; Verhoff’s score would put the Herd up 38-17.
Knowing they needed a touchdown to stay in the game, App State would drive down the field. The Mountaineers would find themselves on the Marshall 17-yard line, but a holding call would set them back 10 yards. Joey Aguilar would go deep, finding Dalton Stroman for a 27-yard touchdown. A successful extra point by Jackson Moore would make the score 38-24, giving the Mountaineers a glimmer of hope.
Marshall would receive the ball with 1:50 left to play in the 3rd quarter, giving the Herd time to move the ball up field to end the quarter. After 2 run plays, Marshall would end the quarter with a 7-yard gain on a Braylon Braxton run.
To begin the 4th, the Herd would keep the ball on the ground moving downfield with 6 straight run plays, a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on App State defensive back Jason Chambers would help move the Herd to the App State 26-yard line. After 2 plays that went nowhere, Braylon Braxton would find wide receiver Charles Montgomery on a 26-yard pass over the middle, extending the Marshall lead by 6. After a successful extra point, the Herd would lead 45-24, sitting comfortably.
However, App State would keep coming putting together a 14-play, 75-yard drive. A bad pass by Joey Aguilar would be intercepted by linebacker Landyn Watson, but sadly the interception would be overturned due to pass interference by linebacker Jaden Yates. The Mountaineers would finish the drive with a 2-yard rushing touchdown from running back Ahmani Marshall, followed by an extra point. The long drive would make the score 45-31.
After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt by the Mountaineers, the Herd would find themselves on their own 42-yard line, giving Marshall an opportunity to put the game away for good. A set of 5 straight run plays would set the Herd up at the App State 35-yard line, Braylon Braxton would find space on the left side of the field, exploding for a 35-yard touchdown run. This score and the extra point would put the Herd up 52-31, all but sealing the Marshall win.
The App State offense would take the field and score on a 2-yard touchdown run courtesy of Ahmani Marshall, but the game would be out of reach as Marshall would kneel out the clock, finishing the game with a 52-37 win.
The Thundering Herd put on a clinic all game, scoring 6 offensive touchdowns. The defense also put up a score on a 14-yard pick 6 while also intercepting another pass. Marshalls quarterback Braylon Braxton led the way for the Herd with 270 total yards alongside 5 total touchdowns. The Herd’s backfield duo of AJ Turner and Jordan Houston combined for 183 total yards and 2 touchdowns. Marshall looks to improve to 2-0 in conference when they visit Statesville to play the Georgia Southern Eagles on October 12th at 8:00pm.