Once-beaten Marshall County had a familiar look for East Hamilton and the outcome of Friday’s football game looked eerily the same as well.
In 2012, Thomas Osteen was the offensive coordinator at Giles County when it eliminated the Hurricanes with a 34-13 quarterfinal victory in the Class 4A state playoffs. Ironically, East Hamilton routed Marshall County, 38-0, just two weeks earlier in the opening round.
At Larry Henry Stadium three years later, Osteen, having left Giles to take over the Marshall County program, watched his 12-1 Tigers turn in a dominating effort to beat East Hamilton, 17-7, a win that sent coach Ted Gatewood’s squad packing.
With the team’s 11th consecutive win, Marshall County advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1984 when it knocked off Milan, 19-0.
The Tigers defeated Marion County, 20-13, the following week for the school’s only state championship.
Next week Marshall plays at Knox Catholic (9-3), which moved on by dumping Greenville, 35-21.
East Hamilton finished the season at 8-5.
Marshall County’s Kamron Liggett scored twice on runs of 3 and 1 yard while rushing for 80 yards on 28 carries.
The Tigers’ other points came on a Caleb Estes 39-yard field goal in the third quarter.
East Hamilton’s lone touchdown was an 87-yard bomb from quarterback Nick Woods and Jeffrey Coleman 58 seconds after Liggett’s opening score.
But that’s all the Hurricanes could muster.
The Tigers ran 73 plays – 33 more than the ‘Canes – and piled up 363 yards offense. Quarterback Ashton Posey, a Mr. Football finalist, completed 13-of-21 passes for 125 yards with two interceptions.
Marshall County churned out 238 yards on the ground, averaging 4.6 yards per carry, and Jay Franklin made the most of nine rushes by gaining 104 yards. He average 11.6 yards per try.
The Tigers’ defense held East Hamilton to 34 rushing yards on 23 carries, a paltry 1.5-yard average. Tailback David Whiteside, who had 274 yards rushing and touchdown runs of 57 and 47 yards in the first two playoff games, was stymied by the Tigers, putting up just 40 yards on 12 carries.
Quarterback Nick Woods threw for 89 yards and the touchdown to Coleman, but the Hurricanes managed only five first downs in the game.
SCORING
Marshall County 7 7 3 0 – 17
East Hamilton 7 0 0 0 – 7
First Quarter
MC – Kamron Liggett 3 run (Caleb Estes), 8:16
EH – Jeffrey Coleman 87 pass from Nick Woods (Jake McClure kick), 7:18
Second Quarter
MC – Liggett 1 run (Estes), 11:02
Third Quarter
MC – FG Estes 39, 5:55
YARDSTICK
MC EH
First Downs 19 5
Rushes-Yards 52-238 23-34
Passing Yards 125 89
Comp-Att-Int 13-21-2 7-17-0
Total Yards 73-363 40-123
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Punts-Avg 0-0 2-16.5
Penalties-Yds 10-70 5-30
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Marshall County: Josh Franklin 9-104, Kamron Liggett 28-80, Ashton Posey 8-24, Jay Howard 4-14, Tre Crutcher 2-8, Miciah Greer 1-8; East Hamilton: David Whiteside 12-40, Andrew Sturdivant 3-13, Frankie Campo 1-0, Woods 7-minus 19.
PASSING – Marshall County: Posey 13-20-2 125, Howard 0-1-0 0; East Hamilton: Nick Woods 7-17-0 89.
RECEIVING – Marshall County: Crutcher 5-94, Howard 6-22, Liggett 1-14, Steven Clemmons 1-minus 5; East Hamilton: Jeffrey Coleman 2-87, Huichan Yun 1-9, Whiteside 4-minus 7.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)