Weird stuff happens when Marshall County and archrival Giles County meet on the gridiron and it was no different on a cold and rainy Friday night at Preston Hopkins Field in Lewisburg as the Bobcats scored with just over a minute to go in the game and then held off a last second charge by the Tigers to steal a 14-10 win.

“I don't think the weather really affected us,” MCHS coach Thomas Osteen said. “We just did not do a good enough job executing in crucial situations and on the opportunities we had deep in their territory.”

The yellow flags were flying, especially against the Tigers who were whistled for 10 penalties in the game, including a Devon Wilson ejection in the third quarter.

“We no doubt hurt ourselves with penalties that put us behind the chains and killed our momentum at various times for us,” Osteen stated. “We continue to address the situation in various ways, but have not made enough strides in that department.”

The Tigers went three-and-out to start the game and a Tez Allen third down sack forced a Giles County punt on their first possession.

On the next play from scrimmage Javarria Rucker found a hole and shot through before outracing the Bobcats’ secondary to the end zone for a 76-yard touchdown.

Jon Estes kicked the extra point through the uprights midway through the first quarter.

The MCHS defense stopped the Bobcats again and took over on downs when the penalty flags begun to fly with the Tigers getting four on its next stalled drive with Giles County taking over after an Andrew Gold punt at their own 36-yard line on the final play of the first quarter.

A Hayden Sheppard tackle in the backfield on a big third down play forced another Giles County punt that was fielded by Wilson, who took it back for a touchdown, but the score was negated on a block in the back penalty on the return.

Charlie Faulkner came up with a sack for the Bobcats to spoil the drive and force a Gold punt with 9:05 remaining in the second quarter.

After one Giles County first down on the ground, the Tigers got the ball back on a Christian Stacey interception that he ran back to the Bobcats’ 7-yard line.

The Tigers could not punch it in and settled for an Estes 23-yard field goal to make it 10-0.

An Estes touchback on the ensuing kickoff gave the Bobcats the ball at the 20-yard line and they began to move the ball on the ground up to the midfield stripe where Chaye Mcelroy burst through line and raced all the way to the end zone for a touchdown.

Walker Belew added the PAT to make it 10-7 and that was the halftime score after both squads had to punt after the Giles County score.

The rain began to fall again after halftime and Giles County took the second half kickoff and kept the ball a long time, driving to the MCHS four-yard line where they lined up for a Belew field goal attempt that was blocked by Allen and Connor Hilton.

The Tigers took over at the 9-yard line and on third down, Bryson Hammons found Wilson for a nice gain, but the play was negated and Wilson ejected from the game on an unsportsmanlike call.

On the next snap, Rucker raced 70 yards to the Giles County 19-yard line when the lights went out.

After a 15-minute delay, the Bobcats stopped Marshall County on four straight plays and took over on downs with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

“The lights had no effect in my opinion,” Osteen said about the outage.

Defense was the name of the game as both squads punted two times and after Marshall County’s second punt, the Bobcats had the ball at their own 30-yard line with 5:08 remaining in the contest.

Two straight runs moved the ball up the field, but on the third rushing attempt, the ball came loose and Marshall County recovered, seemingly coming up with the deciding turnover with 3:46 left in the contest.

After signaling Marshall County ball, the referees regathered and overturned the call, making it first-and-10 for the Bobcats.

“The fumble reversal was huge,” Osteen said. “Whether he was down or not was not the point after they made the initial call it was over a minute of real time before they reversed the call.”

The reversal also reversed the momentum as the Bobcats drove down the field and scored on a 9-yard touchdown run by Kaleb Perry with 1:11 remaining in the contest.

“It’s very hard for any team to come back after a complete 180 of emotions, but something we have to get better at,” Osteen said. “We can't control the officials, all we can control is ourselves.”

Belew’s extra point made it a 14-10 contest and the Tigers needed a touchdown to win the game.

Marshall County was up to the task as they started at their own 34-yard line and drove down the field in lightning fashion, facing a first-and-goal at the 8-yard when Hammons found Kel Greer for the score, but once again the play was negated on an illegal shift penalty on the Tigers.

With just eight seconds left, Hammons tried to find a receiver before taking off and being tackled in the field of play to end the game.

The number-nine ranked Tigers (6-2, 3-0) return to Region 4-4A play this week when they entertain Spring Hill (0-7, 0-3) at Preston Hopkins Field for Homecoming.

The Tigers have won 11 straight and 17-out-of-18 over Raiders since 2003.

After the Spring Hill game, the Tigers get a much-needed bye to mend up for the momentous clash in Lewisburg with number-five ranked and undefeated Nolensville (7-0, 3-0) in the final week of the regular season.

“We still have a ton to play for in regards to still completely controlling our chance at winning the region and playoff seeding,” Osteen said. “Our biggest challenge moving forward will be to not let Giles County beat us twice.”

The Knights host Maplewood (3-5, 2-1) this week and travel to Franklin (3-4) next week for a non-region contest with the Rebs.

Giles County 0 7 0 7-14

Marshall County 7 3 0 0-10

Scoring Plays

First Quarter

Marshall County-Javarria Rucker 76-yard run, Jon Estes PAT, 6:00.

Second Quarter

Marshall County-Jon Estes 23-yard FG, 5:25.

Giles County-Chaye Mcelroy 50-yard run, Walker Belew PAT, 3:31.

Fourth Quarter

Giles County-Kaleb Perry 9-yard run, Walker Belew PAT, 1:11.

Total Offense: Giles County 326, Marshall County 294.

Rushing: Giles County 283, Marshall County 257.

Passing: Giles County 43, Marshall County 37.

Turnovers: Giles County 1, Marshall County 0.

Marshall County Offense

Rushing: Javarria Rucker 9-176-TD, Kel Greer 18-93, Bryson Hammons 3-(-12).

Passing: Bryson Hammons 6-15-37-0-0.

Receiving: Devon Wilson 2-16, Kel Greer 2-10, Devonte Davis 1-11, Javarria Rucker 1-0.

Kicking:

PAT: Jon Estes 1-1.

Field Goals: Jon Estes 1-1-23.

Kickoffs: Jon Estes 3-169-2TB.

Punting; Joseph Gold 6-143.

Returns

Kickoffs: Javarria Rucker 2-25, Riqkyous Summers 1-0.

Punts: Devon Wilson 2-9.

Defense

Tackles: Riqkyous Summers 11 (2.5TFL), Hayden Sheppard 11 (2TFL), Hunter Rolof 9 (.5TFL), Tez Allen 9 (TFL, SACK), Connor Hilton 8, Andrew Gold 5, Christian Stacey 4 (1.5TFL, INT), Chandler Davis 4, Logan McKnight 3, Omari Armstrong 3, Terry Gulley 2, Kaden Whitson 1, Kel Greer 1.

Region 4-4A Standings

Nolensville (7-0, 3-0)

Marshall County (6-2, 3-0)

Maplewood (3-5, 2-1)

Tullahoma (4-3, 1-2)

Lawrence County (3-4, 0-3)

Spring Hill (0-7, 0-3)