Southfield A&T's Isaiah Marshall the last guy to worry when you need a game-winning drive
Southfield A&T quarterback Isaiah Marshall was standing on the sidelines when West Bloomfield’s Kam Flowers scored on a 27-yard touchdown pass for a 35-34 lead with 54 seconds remaining.
There was no sense of disappointment for Marshall, the senior who has committed to Kansas. Instead, there was a strange sense of relief. It was as if he knew what was about to happen next.
And it did.
“They left us too much time on the clock,” he said. “I was happy when they scored fast because we had 54 seconds left on the clock, which was good for us.”
It was wonderful for the Warriors who now will meet two-time defending Division 1 state champ Belleville in Sunday’s 7 p.m. championship game.
Marshall is a no-nonsense guy when it comes to football and his teammates feed off of that.
“My teammates trust me,” he said, “and I trust them so that means a lot.”
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After a touchback on the kickoff, Southfield got the ball at its 20-yard line armed with two timeouts; Marshall realized there was no need to panic and heave long pass after long pass.
“When I got out there, I knew I had to take it play by play,” he said. “We didn’t have to risk any big throws if we didn’t have to.”
Marshall noticed some of his teammates were more worried than he was at their position on the field in the final minute of play.
“There were a couple of people who were very worried and they did hang their heads, but me, I didn’t hang my head and I knew what we had to do,” he said. “I wasn’t paying attention to that. I was focused on scoring. I was very locked in.”
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He tried to convey that message in the huddle before the first play of the drive.
“Calm down,” he told them. “We’ve just got to take this play-by-play. We can’t rush it. We know what we have to do. Calm down.”
No one was calmer than Marshall, who quickly completed a 16-yard pass to Tashi Braceful and followed with a 26-yard completion to DeMario Quarles.
Marshall kept the ball and gained 6 yards before throwing his only incompletion of the drive.
The Warriors moved to the 5 with 6 seconds remaining when Xavi Bowman caught a 27-yard pass from Marshall.
Marshall kept the ball on the next play, but was stopped with 2 seconds left — but there was no need to change the play.
“I was kind of frustrated in myself because I thought I could have gotten in there,” he said. “There were 2 seconds left and when we were on the 1-yard line, I knew we were going to score. They couldn’t stop us all game, so I just had to get it in there.”
Southfield was in the shotgun — Marshall took the snap and fought his way into the end zone behind a convoy of blockers on the last play of the game to win it, 40-35.
“Basically I went behind my left tackle and my left guard,” he said. “And I had three extra blockers — two fullbacks and one tailback — and I scored.”
When Marshall crossed the goal line the fans stormed the field in a wild celebration.
“It was very crazy,” me said. “All the fans came down on the field. I got to see everybody, which was great.”
The victory means 12-1 Southfield will play 13-0 Belleville, which has a 38-game winning streak and has had a running clock — meaning at least a 35-point lead in the second half — in all but two games this season, including all four playoff games.
Yet Marshall is eager to go head-to-head with junior quarterback sensational Bryce Underwood.
“We’ve been at camps together and we train together,” Marshall said. “Belleville’s got a lot of players I’m real cool with, I’m friends with. It’s going to be a very competitive game.”
It would be difficult to be any more competitive than the semifinal was against West Bloomfield.
Getting to his feet and seeing the scoreboard clock read 0:00 was an amazing feeling for the youngster, who has played quarterback for his uncle, Aaron, for four seasons now.
“It just didn’t feel real,” Marshall said. “This is the first time ever going to the state championship in the history of Southfield felt really good. It feels great that I can do it for my uncle, who is our coach.”
“It feels amazing to finally be here. But the jobs not done.”
One-winged angel
The single-wing is headed back to the state finals!
The single-wing is a throwback offense that helped Ken Hofer’s Menominee teams win three state championships and it still is very much a part of the Maroons' offense.
“I’m not sure they would run me out of town if I gave them no single-wing, but I would say maybe we were 60% single-wing yesterday,” Menominee coach Chad Brandt said Sunday of his team’s 32-21 semifinal victory over North Muskegon. “We’re usually 30-40% single-wing.
“And then I throw some spread principles, some spread wing-T principles. We definitely try to diversify the attack.”
Menominee overwhelmed North Muskegon at the point of attack and jumped to a 20-0 halftime.
“Normally, we’re pretty balanced with running and passing,” said Brandt. “But I felt we could get the line of scrimmage and keep the ball out of their hands. Us winning the line of scrimmage allowed us to grind out first downs.”
North Muskegon responded with two quick third-quarter TDs, but quarterback Trevor Theuerkauf scored for the Maroons on a 1-yard run. The Maroons put the game away when edge rusher Landon Bardowski picked off a pass that ricocheted off a helmet.
“Aaron Brunelle deflected one,” Brandt said. “Landon was pass-rushing from the edge and turned around to run back, caught it and had about a 50-yard interception.”
That gave Menominee an insurmountable 32-14 lead that led to the program's 700th win, third most in state history behind only Muskegon (898) and Ann Arbor Pioneer (745).
This is Brandt’s second year as head coach, following Joe Noah, who replaced Hofer.
Not only would the people in town revolt against Brandt if he tried to abandon the single-wing. He would also have a mutiny on his staff.
Every coach on his staff, except for one, played for Hofer or coached with Hofer and Noah.
It's our time!
Don’t be surprised if Muskegon coach Shane Fairfield shows up at Ford Field wearing a mouthguard Saturday night for the Big Reds 7:30 p.m. Division 2 state championship game against Warren De La Salle.
“I hope this ... I can’t keep getting my teeth kicked in,” he said. “But you can’t get them kicked in if you’re not there. We’re going to bring it. You’re going to see a good football team. We’ve got some guys that are playing really well. We’re going to bring everything we’ve got.”
Muskegon has one of the best programs in the state. The Big Reds have struggled in recent state championship games, losing to Detroit King, 56-27, last season, 30-7 to River Rouge in 2019 and 41-25 to King in 2018.
But there are hundreds of coaches throughout the state who would love to risk their teeth for an opportunity to play in a championship game.
Muskegon earned its spot in the finals with a 42-7 victory over East Lansing when senior fullback Jakob Price ran wild for 308 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries.
“Going in, watching them play White Lake Lakeland, they didn’t have any idea how to defend inside veer so that was one of our go-to plays,” Fairfield said. “They ran upfield a lot. They played a very aggressive defense, they just didn’t have any idea how to squeeze in the fullback and he just made some plays. And when he was getting hit he broke two, three, four tackles every time.”
The previous week, Destin Piggee gained 245 yards rushing and M’Khi Guy is as good a running quarterback as there is in the state.
The Big Reds opened the season 0-2, which included a Week 2 40-28 loss to De La Salle, a game in which Muskegon played poorly.
“That’s the reward,” Fairfield said, laughing. “We had a chance to be up in the game. We were winning in the second half. It just kind of got away.
“I think we’re better, but I’m sure they’re better. I remember we had a shot, a chance, and they beat us by 12.”
One of the problems the Big Reds face in championship games is they struggle to come back from deficits because they are so run-oriented.
That could be a problem against De La Salle should they fall behind.
“The first two games, for some reason, we just had done some real crazy things offensively," Fairfield said. “So we reeled that all back in and went back to the drawing board with our offense.
“We’re going to need to throw the ball a little bit. We know that going in this week. It should be a good high school football game and one for the record books.”
Moving on
Joe Palka is leaving Saline to be the next coach at Adrian College.
After coaching for several seasons in Toledo, Palka came to Saline 12 seasons ago and built it into one of the best jobs in the state.
Palka is as serious a coach as there is in the state. His teams won 10 league titles while posting a 112-21 record. His 2014 team was state runner-up.
Saline joins East Kentwood as one of the two best available jobs in the state.
Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at mick.mccabe11@gmail.com. Follow him @mickmccabe1. Order his book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Best High School Players, Teams & Memories,” now at McCabe.PictorialBook.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Southfield A&T's Isaiah Marshall, with game on the line: Never a doubt
