By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo: (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)
Marshall Thundering Herd beats James Madison 35-33 to clinch a spot in the SBC title game in a double overtime thriller on Saturday night at Bridgeforth Stadium.
Braylon Braxton found Charles Montgomery for the two-pointer to give Marshall the win. Braxton was 13-of-24 for 120 yards and a touchdown. Jordan Houston ran for 50 yards.
It’s Marshall’s first Sun Belt East Division title in their program history. Coach Charles Huff, a man of faith, spoke with the media after the game.
“First of all, I want to say good things to God,” Huff said. “It’s hard to stop what the good lords got ordained, man, it really is, and when you trust in his plan, everybody pulls the rope in the same direction even when it gets Rocky, even when you know things don’t seem to be going your direction keep believing, keep praying, keep working.”
AG McGhee and Jaden Yates led the defense with nine tackles individually.
FBS sack leader Mike Greene finished the season with 16.0.
Marshall trailed 17-0 at halftime but never gave up. They got back in the game with a solid third-quarter performance.
“When we came back in at halftime and we looked, you know, we just weren’t doing our jobs,” Huff said. “We weren’t at the right depth, and we weren’t at the right leverage on some of the formations they were doing. Guys started triggering on some routes; we were standing there, so we said, do your job. The game going down, you do your job, and offensively, we just weren’t able to get a first down, so we kept coming off the field three and out.”
Marshall went 5-for-15 on third down, while JMU was held to 4-for-13. Both teams went 2-for-2 on fourth down.
Marshall will face West Division champion Louisiana (10-2, 7-1 Sun Belt).
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com
X: @mmm_sportnfilms, Instagram: @miguel_passionforsports, TikTok: @miguelmikemedina
