It was the steal of the game. But it didn’t come on the basketball court. It came on the gridiron.
Caldwell County’s Kam Wilson reached in to snatch the ball away from Marshall County ball-carrier Kayson Holland, and raced 60 yards for a touchdown.
The fourth-quarter play gave the Tigers a 30-21 advantage with 7:05 left in the game, and Caldwell finally held on for a 30-28 victory in a wild game Friday night at Tiger Stadium in Princeton.
Caldwell never trailed. But Marshall (1-1) never went away.
However, the Tiger defense was responsible for 16 points, lifting Caldwell to 2-0 for the first time since 2019. The Tigers will host Union County next week looking to move to 3-0 for the first time in 11 years. (The 2014 Tigers started the season 9-0.)
Caldwell appeared to seize control of the contest just before halftime.
A 6-yard scoring run by Colson Mattocks, who dived over the pile and into the pylon, gave the Tigers a 16-7 lead with 22 seconds to play.
Caldwell then got an unexpected bonus on the last play of the half when Marshall quarterback Neyland Jezik was hit while throwing the ball. With the clock showing 0:00, freshman Phillip Merritt scooped up the ball at the Marshall 12-yard line and rumbled into the end zone.
That resulted in a wild celebration that saw a dog pile in the end zone — but also saw Caldwell get an unsportsmanlike penalty for excessive celebration. Still, Caldwell took a 23-7 lead to halftime.
But the Tigers could never deliver the knockout blow.
Instead, Marshall got two third-quarter touchdowns to narrow the gap.
A 36-yard interception return for a score by Grant Franklin helped Marshall gain some momentum.
A 53-yard pass from Jezik to a wide-open Ethan Webber had the Marshals within 23-21 through three quarters.
Marshall (1-1) then got the ball back and moved into Caldwell territory. But a potential go-ahead drive was thwarted by Wilson, who literally took the ball out of the grasp of the Marshall running back and took it to paydirt.
Down 30-21, Marshall again got close when Jezik hit Webber with a screen pass that turned into a 37-yard scoring play. That cut Caldwell’s lead to 30-28 with still 2:45 to play.
Marshall had three timeouts remaining, but could not get the ball back.
On fourth-and-3 at the Marshall 33, Caldwell quarterback Daelyn Lander kept the ball around the right side. He went for 10 yards and a first down, essentially ending the contest.
Caldwell kneeled on the ball three times to kill the remaining time and pick up the victory.
Kam Wilson got the scoring started for Caldwell when he went 38 yards for a score at the 5:31 mark of the first quarter. Sutton Ritchey kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.
Marshall then made a miscue on the ensuing kickoff and had to fall on the ball at its own 1-yard line.
On the very next play, the Tigers caught the Marshals in the end zone for a safety to extend the margin to 9-0.
Marshall countered on a 14-yard touchdown run from Jake Thomasson with 3:43 left in the second period. Clayton Ordunez kicked the PAT.
That made it a two-point game before Caldwell’s quick strikes in the closing moments of the half made it 23-7 at the break.
It was Caldwell’s first win over Marshall since 1996. The teams hadn’t met in 20 years and the Marshals were visiting Tiger Stadium for the first time since 2001.
Marshall ended the night with more yards, 279 to 216.
The Marshals had 16 first downs while the Tigers had 14.
Jezik was 12 of 23 passing for 157 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Webber had three catches for 96 yards and two scores.
Thomasson ran for 93 yards for the Marshals with a TD.
For Caldwell, Lander was 7 of 20 throwing the football for 47 yards with two interceptions.
Lander did run for a team-high 63 yards.
Mattocks ran for 53 yards and a score while Wilson had 49 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Carter Bedell led the Tiger tackle sheet with 12 stops, including two tackles for loss.
Wilson had 10 tackles and two fumble recoveries. Jack Roach also made 10 stops with a sack and a forced fumble.
Kese Wilson had an interception for the Tigers. Merritt recovered two fumbles.
Caldwell will play at home again next week when it hosts Union County (1-1).
