LIONS GASH MAVERICK DEFENSE IN SEASON OPENING LOSS 42-27

When two rivals share 118 years of football history between them, you expect things to be fun, exciting, and intense.  All three were true Thursday night at Rose Stadium as Marshall faced off against the Tyler Lions.

The game was ugly from the start for the Mavs as they went three and out on their first possession of the season.  A shanked punt then put the Lions on the Marshall 25 yard line to start their game.  

Tyler fumbled away the ball, but the Mavs weren't able to do anything for their second possession.  After another punt and nice return the Lions were again set up deep in Marshall territory at the 32.  

The Mav defense got their second turnover in two drives with a huge pick six for 78 yards as Marshall took a 6-0 lead with 6:10 left in the first quarter.  The PAT was no good.

On a 3rd and 11 the Lions got a 60 yard TD run to take a 7-6 lead with 4:56 left in the first.

Another Marshall punt set the Lions up for another huge offensive play with a 69 yard run and a 14-6 lead with 2:01 showing.

Yet another Marshall put had Tyler at their own 42.  A 57 yard TD pass made it 21-6 and it appeared the route was on.

The Maverick offense finally got things going in the second quarter with an impressive drive that cut the THS lead to 21-13 with 7:50 before halftime.

Tyler had an answer of their own with another TD pass, this time for 22 yards to make it 28-13.

Marshall was looking to make it 28-20 game just before halftime, but an interception killed the drive.

The Mavs did piece together a quick drive just before the break to get a field goal to pull with 28-16 headed into the intermission.

The third quarter started with a an errant snap over the punter's head for Tyler.  He kicked the ball out of the back of the endzone for a safety as Marshall pulled within 28-18.

Following the free kick, the Mavs put together another impressive drive that ended in a touchdown to make it a one possession game.  Tyler was clinging to a 28-25 lead. 

Another poor snap for a punt for Tyler lead to another kick out of the endzone for the second safety of the game and all of a sudden Marshall was within 1 point of the Lions, 28-27 with just over a minute left in the third.  

Marshall's next possession resulted in a punt and Tyler made the Mavs pay as they had another long score on a 65 yard TD run.  The Lions took control again 36-27.

The ensuing Marshall drive ended with an interception.  The Lions had another long play with a 40 yard TD run to make it 42-27 with 11:03 left in the game.

In the span of a little over a minute the game had gone from a 1 point game to a 14 point deficit. 

The Mavs couldn't muster any more offense on the night to make it interesting towards the end.

Running back Doug Johnson finished with 128 yards on 21 carries for 2 scores.

Marshall rushed for 200 yards on the night.

The Mavs had 13 yards passing with two interceptions.

A total of 213 yards on the night.

Tyler had  125 yards passing and 306 rushing for a total of 431 yards.

​Marshall will be on the road for the second week in a row as they travel to take on the Longview Lobos.