Tattnall Square shuts out Warren County

Tattnall Square head coach Clint Morgan preached to his team all week how much grit Warren County had in its team.

And Morgan was right. While Warren County wasn’t large in roster size, it was filled with enough athleticism that gave Tattnall fits the entire night, but it ended up falling short to the Trojans, 14-0 on Friday.

“I said all week Warren has some athletic kids, and they gave us all they could,” Morgan said. “I’m pleased with the way our defense has played, and they really showed up in some big spots. I’m happy any time we can get a win.”

The Trojans’ two early touchdowns proved to be more than enough for their defense.

Tattnall Square quarterback Destin Mack led the offense in the first half, rumbling for 75 yards on the third play from scrimmage

The Trojans (2-0) stretched their lead to two touchdowns late in the first quarter when Mack stood tall in the pocket and connected with wide receiver Jimmy Marshall on a 29-yard scoring strike.

Mack finished with 128 rushing yards with just eight carries.

But it was Marshall and his 6-foot-4 frame that put a halt to any Warren County comeback attempt.

Trailing 14-0, the Devils returned a punt 29 yards and connected on a 21-yard pass to move inside the Tattnall 5-yard line with just less than two minutes remaining in the game. On second down, however, Marshall, who plays defensive end, dropped back into coverage as he read a slant pass from Warren County quarterback Jarvis Collins and intercepted the pass to seal the win.

“Our offense couldn’t really get going at all,” Marshall said. “But we made things happen in other areas. Our defense really stepped up and it was a total team effort. Everybody played together and got it done.”

Warren County (1-2) will look back on its lack of execution, driving inside the Tattnall red zone on four separate occasions, but it just couldn’t manage to break the goal line.

Warren County put together a drive late in the second quarter, pushing the ball down to the Tattnall 1, but on fourth-and-goal it was flagged for a delay of game penalty before finally throwing an incomplete pass for a turnover on downs.

“We had good drives, but we just have to finish,” Warren County head coach Cherard Freeman said. “Take your hats off to Tattnall, they have a very good football team, and we put ourselves in position to score and possibly win a few times, but we just couldn’t finish.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Tattnall Square shuts out Warren County ."