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Herd zips by Akron 48-17 with dominant first half

AKRON, OH— Marshall wanted to make certain there was no letdown going into Saturday’s matchup with Akron. The Herd imposed its will on the Zips, building a 24-0 lead and cruising to a 48-17 victory in Akron.

“Our kids played extremely hard and played well,” said Doc Holliday. “I felt like we started fast and I thought the biggest thing was we came out in the third quarter and put the game away.”

Any idea of Akron being a trap game was erased early on. Marshall outgained Akron 201 yards to 48 in the first quarter.

Marshall’s defense was equally as dominant in the first half, limiting the Zips to one-of-eight on third down and forcing four turnovers. The Herd has now outscored opponents 103-6 in the first half through the first four games of the season.

Marshall’s nine-play, 80-yard drive on its first possession of the game was an indication of how the day was going to go for the Zips. Marshall picked up seven first downs on the drive and the Herd never faced a third down. Cato capped off the drive an 11-yard run, faking the handoff and juking out a potential Zip tackler.

After an Akron fumble, Justin Haig connected on a 24-yard field goal to build a 10-0 lead with 5:00 to play in the first quarter. Marshall expanded the lead to 17-0 on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Cato to Angelo Jean-Louis. The scoring toss with 2:53 to play in the first quarter extended Cato’s streak of 36 consecutive games with a touchdown pass.

“Our offense is doing a great job of understanding the fronts we’re getting and dissecting the defense,” said Cato.

Marshall wasn’t done yet.

The Herd started to send some of the sparse Akron crowd toward the exits early when Devon Johnson broke loose for a 22-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Akron’s offense was stifled by Marshall’s defense. The Herd forced four turnovers in the first half. Zips’ quarterback Kyle Pohl was intercepted twice and running back Hakeem Lawrence put the ball on the ground twice.

One of those interceptions came as Akron was knocking on the door of the endzone. On 4th and goal, A.J. Leggett intercept Pohl in the endzone giving Marshall the ball back on its own 20. That 4th and goal play would turn out to be the last time the Zips would threaten in the ball.

On the very next snap, Remi Waston exploded through the line and into the Zips’ secondary and sprinted 80 yards for a touchdown, giving Marshall a comfortable 31-3 lead.

“After he scored on that long run I thought the game was pretty much over from there,” assessed Cato.

Unlike in the season opener at Miami, there was no Marshall letdown in the third quarter. On the opening possession of the half, Marshall went 75 yards on seven plays then followed that series with its longest drive of the year, a 13-play march that culminated with Cato’s second rushing touchdown of the day. The 13-yard touchdown run, capped off the drive that ate 6:28 off the clock and gave Marshall a 41-3 lead.

Just Haig added a 34-yard field goal and Brandon Byrd scored on a 19-yard run in the fourth quarter to salt away the win.

Marshall had 523 yards of total offense, 284 of which came on the ground. Remi Watson was the leading rusher with 124 yards on nine carries. Johnson finished with 103 yards on 18 carries for his third 100-yard performance of the season.

Rakeem Cato was 17 of 31 for 210 yards and a touchdown.

Marshall now has a bye week before opening conference play at Old Dominion on Oct. 5.





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