What every football coach ultimately hopes to see from his football team as the schedule progresses is maturity and improvement.

So far, so good for Marshall County (6-1, 2-1) as the fourth-ranked Tigers showed maturity by not taking its under matched opponent too lightly, jumping out to a 38-0 halftime lead before the second and third string players finished out the second half for a 48-0 Region 4/4A win over Lawrence County (3-4, 1-2).

The Tigers also continue to get better both individually and as a team following a big loss to Tullahoma during Week 2 of the regular season.

Since the loss to Tullahoma, the Tigers have now won four straight by a combined score of 188-62 including a 76-7 advantage the past two contests.

Marshall County also picked up a 1-0 COVID win over Maplewood.

Simply put, the Tigers are quickly becoming the team no one will want to play come playoff time.

"This (shutout) gives us great confidence, especially after what happened to us with Tullahoma," Devonte Davis, who tacked both a receiving touchdown and interception on defense against Lawrence County, stated. "A team, we as a whole knew that we could play with them (Tullahoma) and that's helping us build into what we want to be--- a solid defense that no team wants to play against."

The Tiger defense, led once again led by linebacker Christian Stacey with eight tackles and two and a half sacks, refused to let Lawrence County get going, holding the Wildcats to negative rushing yards and just two first downs in the first half.

The Wildcats offense did not cross the 50-yard line until there was two seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The majority of Lawrence County's positive yardage came against Marshall County's third team late in the contest.

Connor Hilton added six tackles while Kortez Ingram and Antomme Cawthorn chipped in five tackles each and Hayden Sheppard finished with four stops, half a sack, and a quarterback hurry.

Davis picked off his team leading third interception and now is second on the team with 43 tackles, including four for a loss and two passes defended.

"The interception goes all to the coaches," Davis said about the pick. "They made a game plan and keyed in on that specific play and I just executed it."

"The defense was definitely hyped," Davis added. "You could tell by how we all got in the game and left them with a zero on the scoreboard."

Since Lawrence County and Marshall County joined the same region in 2015, the Tigers are 6-0 against the Wildcats with a combined score of 282-18 with three shutouts.

The closest contest was a 29-8 Tiger win in 2018.

The most recent contest included the same pattern with the Tiger defense pitching its first shutout of the season and putting up 38 first half points including a 21-0 first quarter advantage.

The Tigers scored quickly, jumping out to a 7-0 lead and following a Wildcat three-and-out, quarterback Bryson Hammons found defensive star Davis for his third touchdown catch in the past two games.

"They (Wildcats) were in man coverage and I knew the defensive back wasn't as athletic as me,” Davis, who has caught six of his total nine receptions in the past two games, recalled. "Bryson, as usual, threw a perfect pass."

The Tigers continued to have things go their way going into the second half with Lawrence County fumbling on the second play of the quarter.

Trey Warner, in for Hammons, was able to complete a pass to Joseph Gold for a first down before the drive stalled and kicker Jon Estes came into the game and drilled his second field goal of the contest and fourth on the year.

The Tigers’ luck continued into the fourth quarter when Lawrence County threatened to break the shutout, but fumbled on the MCHS 1-yard line and a quick thinking Grayson Miller snagged the loose ball and raced 99 yards for the final score on the night to keep the shutout alive.

Marshall County also let key reserves get some valuable in game action the entire second half.

Backup quarterback Trey Warner completed a pass, rushed for 30 yards on just four attempts, and added three tackles, a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hurry on defense.

Iyason Buggers added four attempts for five yards and Cawthorn added a catch for the second team.

Luke Nichols led the Wildcats with 39 yards on seven rushes and quarterback Alex Carr finished with just 20 yards passing and negative rushing yards just a week after running for 103 yards and 81 yards passing in a one-point loss to 2A Forrest.

Lawrence County finished with 102 total yards of total offense on the night.

The Tigers step out of region play this Friday for a rematch against former longtime region rival Giles County (4-4), which is coming off a 41-6 thumping of Whites Creek.

MCHS beat Giles County 38-14 in a COVID add-in game on September 18.

Marshall County finishes out the regular season with a pair of region road games at Spring Hill (1-6, 1-2) and Nolensville (3-2, 2-0) with a bye in between.

Lawrence County 0 0 0 0-0

Marshall County 21 17 3 7-48

Marshall County Offense

Total Yards (227): Rushing 114, Passing 163.

Rushing: Demari Braden 13-37-TD, Trey Warner 4-30, Connor Hilton 3-28, Bryson Hammons 1-9, Iyasen Biggers 4-5, Lamarion Pierce 3-5.

Passing: Bryson Hammons 12-15-163-3TD-0INT.

Receiving: A’Ky Howard 4-79, Jayden Hart 3-43-TD, Devonte Davis 2-36-TD, Joseph Gold 1-8, Lamarion Pierce 1-6, Logan McKnight 1-4-TD, Antomme Cawthorn 1-(-5).

Kicking

PAT: Jon Estes 4-4, Wyatt Joyce 2-2.

Field Goals: Jon Estes 2-2.

Kickoffs: Jon Estes 8-472-5TB.

Returns

Kickoffs: Grayson Miller 1-0.

Punts: Lamarion Pierce 1-22, Connor Hilton 1-0.

Defense

Tackles: Christian Stacey 8 (2.5TFL, 2.5 SACKS), Connor Hilton 6, Kortez Ingram 5, Antomme Cawthorn 5, Hayden Sheppard 4 (.5TFL, .5 SACKS), Jakavan Curry 3, Trey Warner 3 (TFL), Grayson Miller 3 (FUM REC TD), Jayden Hart 3 (BLOCKED PUNT), Lamarion Pierce 2, Logan McKnight 2, Kamron Dunnavant 2, Omari Armstrong 2, Kaden Whitson 1, Devonte Davis 1 (INT), Khamani Ewing 1, Brock Anderson 1, Gorge Vilchiz 1, Chandler Davis 1, Isaiah Stewart 1.