Millbrook football
PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN WORSTELL
Wildcat QB Trey McFarland (5) — who was sidelined most of last season with an injury — showed no signs of rust Friday night, leading Millbrook over Garner 34-24.
Marshall, McFarland muscle Millbrook to opening-night win
As Millbrook’s football season approached, there were questions whether sophomore running back Keith Marshall and junior quarterback Trey McFarland could fill the shoes left by departed stars Kuwon Eldridge and Brian Kass.
After one game anyway, the shoes are nice and snug.
Marshall and McFarland, both making their varsity debuts, accounted for 498 yards of total offense and all five touchdowns as the Wildcats survived a fourth-quarter scare and held off Garner 34-24 in Friday night's season opener at Millbrook.
“They’re going to be two great athletes for us,” Millbrook coach Clarence Inscore said.
Marshall found the end zone four times, including a 57-yard scamper on the very first touch of his career. He later scored twice just 1:11 apart in the fourth quarter after the Wildcats squandered a 13-point halftime lead.
“I was really nervous in the locker room before the game,” admitted Marshall, who rushed for 154 yards on 28 carries and amassed another 157 yards on just four catches. “But I felt good. I was confident.”
Marshall’s initial scoring run came just two plays after Juwan Moye gave Garner an early 7-0 lead with a 62-yard touchdown run of his own on a right-side toss. In the first five plays of the game, each team reached the end zone.
On Millbrook’s second possession, McFarland hooked up with Marshall on a swing pass and Marshall did the rest, sprinting 72 yards up the right sideline for another score and a 13-7 lead.
With just three seconds remaining in the half, McFarland gave the Wildcats a 20-7 halftime lead when he found Scott Gray in the back of the end zone from 15 yards out.
Millbrook carried all the momentum into the locker room, but it was the Trojans who brought it back out.
Connor Torruella’s 21-yard field goal slashed the Millbrook lead to 20-10.
Then Moye scored from 32 yards out just 1:30 later to pull the Trojans within a field goal at 20-17.
Early in the fourth quarter, a Wildcat punt was blocked by Garner’s Ronald Moore and scooped up by Andre Gillispie, who coasted 36 yards to paydirt to complete a run of 17 unanswered points.
Just like that the Trojans led 24-20 with under 10 minutes to play.
“We didn’t really panic," Inscore said. "We had some bad things happen to us and we came out and answered the call. “As young as we are and to be in that situation for the first time, I was real happy with how we responded.”
Sophomore running back Keith Marshall (4) scored four touchdowns in Millbrook's 34-24 victory over Garner Friday night. It was Marshall's first career start on varsity.
The Wildcats wasted no time, scoring on their ensuing possession to retake the lead. The Millbrook defense responded with an interception and the Wildcats scored an insurance touchdown — all in just over a minute.
McFarland and Marshall connected on a short slant pattern and Marshall bounced it outside and tight-roped the sideline for a 47-yard score.
After Jarrick Feaster came up with an interception, the Wildcats needed just three plays before Marshall punched it in from nine yards out.
The soft-spoken Marshall, who had a fifth touchdown wiped out by a penalty in the waning minutes, had a humble evaluation of his night, instead letting his play do the talking.
“I did alright,” he said. “The offensive line did a good job of blocking.”
McFarland was equally alright, completing 14 of 28 throws for 344 yards with only one interception.
Michael Thornton reeled in five catches for 126 yards and Gray caught three passes for 21 yards. Dontre Price recorded one catch for 22 yards and Max Rivera caught one pass for 18 yards.
Kendall Whitehead joined Feaster with an interception for Millbrook.
For a young team with some question marks, Inscore was pleased with a small, but significant growth spurt.
“I think we grew up a lot tonight,” he said.
Millbrook's next game is at Knightdale Friday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m.
