Gregori running back Marsden’s four touchdowns lead Jaguars to key CCAL win over Enochs
Gregori High football coach Lamar Wallace does not worry about wearing out senior running back Michael Marsden.
In Marsden’s two varsity seasons, Wallace has learned a lot about the 5-foot-9, 160-pound back, including this: As the game goes on, Marsden only gets better.
“He’s a tough kid,” Wallace said. “The more he gets the ball, the tougher runner he becomes. When we give him the ball sparingly, he doesn’t get going as much. … We want to give other guys some opportunities as well, but right now, he’s the guy. It’s his senior year and he’s gotten us here, so we’re going to keep riding with him.”
Marsden proved his coach right Friday night in the team’s Central California Athletic League game against Enochs. On his 17th birthday, Marsden carried the ball 33 times, rushing for 230 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Jaguars to a 38-24 win.
“When he goes, the team goes,” Wallace said.
Gregori took a 17-0 lead in the first half, but Enochs stormed back. By the midway point of the third quarter, the game was tied 17-17. From that point, Marsden outscored Enochs 21-7 with three second-half touchdowns, the final one coming on a 10-yard run up the middle to seal the win. The victory has the potential to be the deciding factor in who earns a spot in the 2023 postseason.
“Gotta love the big games, man,” said Marsden. “Gotta love the atmosphere. If you love the game, results will come.”
The Jaguars bounced back from last week’s loss against Turlock. After trailing by 33 in the first half, Gregori came within one yard of making it a seven-point game. Turlock pulled away late to win 51-24.
“We have a resilient group,” Wallace said of the team’s ability to regroup with a big win. “I knew by the way they came in on Monday that they still believed. They know we’re still in this thing … nobody was feeling sorry for themselves or hanging their heads. They knew we made a lot of mistakes last week.”
The Gregori offensive line, led by center Ethan Lowell and guard/tackle Arturo Rios, once again paved the way for the CCAL’s leading rusher.
“All summer, it’s lift, lift, lift, technique, technique,” said Lowell, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound senior who has interest from Division I and Division II colleges. “In the trenches you put a lot of work in and to see Mikey run for 250 yards is a great feeling.”
Said Wallace: “They’re our senior leaders. They get on the other guys on the line and they just keep motivating and fueling them. They make the line go and they take pride in it.”
Marsden now has over 150 carries and more than 1,000 yards on the season. He averages 23 carries and over 165 yards a game and is in the Top 10 in the Sac-Joaquin Section in total yards. Like Wallace, he is not worried about being overworked week after week.
“I’ve been doing this since I was a little kid,” said Marsden, who wears No. 23 partially because of a quick, shifty running back who plays professionally in the Bay Area, Christian McCaffrey. “I’ve been playing football my entire life … I’m pretty used to this by now.”
And when he’s done running through, over and past his opponents, a Saturday ice bath always awaits.
Gregori is in a pretty good spot. The Jaguars are 5-2 and 1-1 in the Central California Athletic League. Their destiny is in their own hands and if they keep playing well, they can secure a playoff spot for the eighth straight season.
Enochs’ execution struggles
Friday’s loss marked the 10th straight time the Eagles have been bested by Gregori.
“Everybody’s disappointed,” said Enochs coach Tracey Traub. “We just have not been able to figure out the Gregori juggernaut. We’ve got to go back Monday and refocus because we’ve got three more games.”
Enochs spotted Gregori 17 first-half points. In the second quarter Johnny Staggs found Logan Edwards for a touchdown and Aiden Muhammad scored once on the ground to cut the deficit to 17-14 at halftime. An early third-quarter field goal tied the game, but Enochs scored only once in the final quarter and a half.
“We didn’t execute in the first quarter,” Traub said. “Then came out in the third quarter a little flat. … You’ve got to give credit to coach Lamar, he had his team dialed in and we’ve got to come out with better execution and defensively, we’ve got to stop teams.”
Two of the Eagles’ final three league games are against CCAL powers Downey and Turlock.
“Every week is a playoff game for us right now,” Traub said. “This was one we dropped, we can’t drop any more. We know we’re at the bottom of the barrel in D-I in the playoff picture so we’ve got to win all three from here on out.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2023 at 8:25 AM.
