Sports
Marshall Outlasts Franklin in Northern League Opener (Video)
Panthers play well on both sides of the ball, still lose on homecoming night.
football team showcased its best all around performance of the season, but that couldn’t prevent them from experiencing their second consecutive loss at home.
Marshall High School spoiled homecoming night for Franklin, getting past the Panthers, 28-19, in a hard fought, Northern League battle on Friday night.
“It sucks to lose, I know,” head coach Eric Jaimes told his team after game. “But your coaching staff is telling you we like what we saw.”
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What Jaimes, his staff and the spectators on hand witnessed was a cohesive effort by a young team to take down their favored opponent.
Jaimes may have also caught a glimpse at his next starting quarterback.
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FHS (3-3, 0-1 Northern League) striked first as Anthony Macias leaped over a pile of bodies into the end zone from 1-yard out, four minutes into the game.
The senior running back was a workhorse against the Barristers, hitting his holes hard and churning out yards. He carried the ball 29 times for 141 yards and scored two touchdowns.
"I gotta thank my line for making big holes. We practiced this all week and it worked, it paid off,” Macias said.
Franklin’s defense shut down the Marshall offense in the first quarter, holding MHS scoreless until the start of the second. The Barristers would take the lead, 14-7, when Martin Estrada scooped up a backwards pass by QB Joshua Taylor.
The ball, intended for Macias, was still live and Estrada ran 43 yards for the score.
On Franklin’s next drive, Taylor picked up a 43-yard gain to set up a touchdown pass from John-Anthony Aguilar to Isaiah Turner with eight tics on the clock in the first half. The point after was no good and Franklin trailed 14-13 at the break.
Eduardo Mejia has been the backup quarterback for FHS since Joshua Taylor took over as the starter, however, on Friday it was Aguilar who alternated snaps with Taylor.
Quarterback Coach Narciso Diaz said Aguilar, after only a couple of days learning plays, told him at practice that he was game ready if the team needed him.
Aguilar, who has been playing wide receiver, looked like a natural throwing the ball. He kept his composure as well.
The junior mishandled the snap and dropped the ball on Franklin’s final drive of the first half as the team threatened to score, but didn’t panic. He coolly regained possession and found Turner in the end zone for a 26-yard score.
“I was like let me pick it up and see what I got. I seen Turner right there and tossed it up to him for the touchdown,” Aguilar said.
FHS stalled in the third quarter, unable to put any points on the board, while Marshall (4-2, 1-0) added a touchdown to its score in each quarter of the second half.
Macias brought Franklin to within two points, 21-19, when he went untouched up the middle for 15-yards and his second touchdown of the night in the final quarter.
The Panthers were headed to the goal line with under a minute left to play, but failed to reach the end zone. Marshall elapsed the remaining time left up by nine.
Macias said, “We gave it all we got. It could’ve been anybody’s game.”
