One thing is certain about the 2018 Marshall County football team.

These Tigers are not afraid to play anyone.

According to several different sources, the Tigers have played the hardest schedule in the state in any classification over the first half of the regular season.

Marshall County's opponents have a combined 24-5 record with a combined 9-0 region record.

That schedule did not get any easier on Friday night as one of the state's most historically dominant and storied programs made its way down to Lewisburg as the Pearl-Cohn Firebirds came to town.

And although the Tigers (1-4) eventually fell to the Firebirds 35-12, Marshall County did have a chance to cut the game to one possession in the third period.

But like most of the early season loses, untimely mistakes ultimately doomed the blue and white.

"It's a sick feeling because I know we can play better football than this," senior receiver Dagon Stacey, who caught five balls for 34 yards, said. "We've played better football than this in the past and we keep getting better every week."

"We've got to keep coming to practice, coming in on Sundays and fix the little mistakes that we keep making every day and in games," Stacey added. "We've got to make sure they are eliminated from here on out if we want to have a successful second half."

Pearl-Cohn (4-2) brought a wealth of talent down to Lewisburg and the major prospects lived up to the hype.

Tennessee commitment Elijah Simmons finished with six tackles with two tackles for a loss on defense and opened up gaping holes on offense in which the Firebirds out-rushed the Tigers 260-147 behind 94 yards on 13 attempts from sophomore standout Kyndrich Breedlove and four carries for 77 yards from fellow sophomore Iven Dayton.

Vanderbilt commitment Jayden Harrison caught four balls for 63 yards and a score on offense, while quarterback Xavier Shepard, who committed to Kennesaw State over offers from Appalachian State, Tulane, Southern Miss, Coastal Carolina and Miami (OH), threw for 114 yards and a score on 8-of-13 attempts and ran for another 88 yards and a score on just five carries.

But if Shepard's numbers were impressive, the Tigers have got to be excited about quarterback Malik Thomison's numbers against the 3A power as the senior had arguably his best game with 113 yards and a score on 12-of-18 attempts with no turnovers against one of the best defenses in the state.

Thomison also had 39 yards on the ground on 12 attempts.

Javarria Rucker also had a great game with 78 yards on 15 carries and three receptions for 40 yards and the Tigers only score while Marcellus Campbell finished with 77 all-purpose yards, four tackles, two tackles for a loss, and interception and a safety.

Connor Hilton had his best game as a Tiger with a team-leading seven tackles with Kel Greer, Jayshon Wilcox and Antonio Warren all chipping in with five tackles.

"We knew they were going to be great competition so we just came together and made a game plan," Thomison said. "Our ultimate goal was to work together, stay on the same page and compete as hard as we could against a great team with a great coach. They are a well-coached team."

Despite the seemingly lopsided final score, the Tigers put themselves in position to win for nearly the entire second half.

After enduring a pregame monsoon, Pearl-Cohn came out of the gate on fire while the home team seemed shell-shocked.

The Firebirds looked every bit the state power in the early stages, scoring three first quarter touchdowns to go up 21-0 at the end of the opening period and sending half the crowd to the house in the process.

But just like a typical Thomas Osteen coached squad, the Tigers refused to panic and ultimately began chipping away at the lead.

Pearl-Cohn would tack on one more touchdown in the first half, but the Tigers got on the board with a Thomison to Rucker touchdown pass, a Pearl-Cohn safety, and a John Estes 29-yard field goal to trim the lead to 28-12 at the half.

Midway through the third quarter the Tigers looked in control with heaps of momentum, easily driving down the field on a tiring Firebird defense.

But following a pretty 15-yard first down run to put the Tigers in the red zone, Rucker coughed up the ball and Pearl-Cohn recovered.

Although the fumble came with plenty of time remaining in the game, the damage appeared to be done and the Tigers failed to put together any more meaningful drives for the rest of the contest.

On the bright side, the Tigers held a Firebird offense to its third lowest point total of the season, including 6A Cookeville (4-2) the previous week.

"We're a good football team, we are," Osteen emphasized. "I would still put us toe to toe with any 4A football team in the state. It's just when you look at our records, people are thinking, 'what's happened to them',"

"We're younger than we've been and our margin for error is very small but we've played some good football against some great teams," Osteen added. "So I hope during the second half of the season when we're playing teams that are closer in makeup to what we are, that's really gonna show."

"I hope that we can regroup, lick our wounds and have a great rest of the season."

The Tigers have a great starting point this Friday with a homecoming matchup against perennial region basement dweller Lawrence County (0-6, 0-2).

The Tigers have beaten the Wildcats 157-7 the past three years and Lawrence County has failed to score on Lewisburg the past two years.

But as the Tigers found out earlier in the season against Tullahoma, the past has little bearing on the current matchup no matter the records.

"We are playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, hands down," senior defensive back Marcellus Campbell said. "This schedule was put together to get us ready for our region games and this is a big one."

"I know its five games in and our record doesn't look good right now but this schedule will better us for the postseason," Campbell continued. "I feel like we can make another deep postseason run if we keep learning from these experiences."

"This Lawrence County game will a huge step in the right direction if we can stay focused and come out with the win."

Pearl-Cohn 21 7 0 7-35

Marshall County 0 12 0 0-12

Scoring Plays

First Quarter

Pearl-Cohn-Xavier A. Shepherd 70-yard run, Malachi Newsom PAT.

Pearl-Cohn-Jayden Harrison 30-yard pass from Shepherd, Newsome PAT.

Pearl-Cohn-Iven Dayton 39-yard run, Newsome PAT.

Second Quarter

Marshall County-Marcellus Campbell safety.

Marshall County-John Estes 29-yard FG.

Pearl Cohn-Kyndrich Breedlove 41-yard run, Newsome PAT.

Marshall County-Javarria Rucker 21-yard pass from Malik Thomison, Estes PAT.

Fourth Quarter

Pearl-Cohn-Breedlove 11-yard run, Newsome PAT.

Total Yards: Pearl-Cohn 374, Marshall County 260.

Rushing: Pearl-Cohn 260, Marshall County 147.

Passing: Pearl-Cohn 114, Marshall County 113.

Marshall County Offense

Rushing: Javarria Rucker 15-78, Malik Thomison 12-39, Elijah Taylor 10-26, Kel Greer 4-4.

Passing: Malik Thomison 12-18-113-TD.

Receiving: Javarria Rucker 3-40-TD, Dagon Stacey 5-34, Carter Shirey 2-11, Christian Stacey 1-15, Marcellus Campbell 1-13.

Kicking

PAT: John Estes 1-1.

Kickoffs: Estes 3-71.

FG: John Estes 1-1-29.

Punting: Dagon Stacey 3-111.

Returns

Kickoffs: Marcellus Campbell 4-59, Javarria Rucker 2-37.

Defense

Tackles: Connor Hilton 7, Kel Greer 5, Antonio Warren 5, Jayshon Wilcox 5, Marcellus Campbell 4 (2TFL, INT), Keylin Talley 4, Christian Stacey 3, Tez Allen 3, Keshun Gentry 2 (TFL), Andrew Gold 2 (TFL), Bennett Flemming 2, Javarria Rucker 1, Dagon Stacey 1, Terry Gulley 1.