Texas High battled out a fast-paced game against the Marshall Mavericks, winning in their toughest district matchup yet. Swapping touchdowns and battling defensively, the Tigers pulled out the win 42-35.

The first quarter for the Tigers started off slow offensively and defensively. The Mavericks struck first with a rushing touchdown in the back half of the first.

The Tiger offense strung together a good string of first down conversions with under two minutes left in the quarter. Big first downs from sophomore Javari Johnson and senior Xavier Dangerfield set the Tigers up in a nice field position. 

Sophomore quarterback David Potter handed the rock to freshman Tradarian Ball, who ran in a touchdown with 1:02 left in the quarter, tying the game at seven.

The Mavericks struck again to start the second quarter with a short pass run in for a touchdown. With 9:18 left in the second, the Mavs led 14-7.

The Marshall defense forced and recovered a fumble, but the Texas High defense locked down and got a stop. 

On the offensive end of things, Texas began to come alive. 

Back-to-back long first down passes completed to junior Tamarcus Gray moved the Tigers downfield quickly. Potter made a nice handoff to Johnson, who ran in his first touchdown of the night, knotting the game at 14 with 4:59 left in the half.

The Mavericks answered quickly, with two big conversions of their own, followed by a touchdown to regain the lead 21-14 with 3:58 remaining in the second. 

The Tiger’s ball movement continued throughout the end of the half, coming up with multiple big conversions. 

Potter completed a touchdown pass to Gray, tying the game at 21 going into the third.

The Tigers opened the third quarter with another long touchdown pass completed to Gray, allowing Texas to take their first lead of the night 28-21 with 9:16 remaining in the third.

Marshall answered quickly, coming up with a long touchdown run to tie the game, again, at 28.

The Tigers were able to regain possession of the lead after a nice conversion pass to junior Brandon Hall, followed by a tough catch brought in by Dangerfield, making the score 35-28 Texas with 5:58 left in the third. 

The Tiger defense finally began to settle down towards the end of the quarter, quieting the Maverick offense. The remainder of the third quarter was slow for both teams, and the Tigers led 35-28 going into the fourth.

Texas made multiple big stops, including a fourth and two stop, bringing momentum to the Tigers. 

Johnson ran in his second touchdown of the night, lengthening the Tiger lead to 42-28 with 9:33 left in the game. The Mavericks put up one last touchdown with 6:53 remaining in the game, making the score 42-35.

In the last play of the game, the Mavericks threw a hail mary in an attempt to tie and send the game into overtime, but the pass was intercepted by senior CJ Brown to end the game with a win for Texas 42-35.

The Tigers will face Nacogdoches in their next district game Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.