Defensive play boosts John Marshall past Heritage Hall
John Marshall 12, Heritage Hall 7

By Bobby Rockel, Special Correspondent Comments 0
Published: October 31, 2009

The air came out of the balloon for No. 5 Heritage Hall with just over seven minutes left in the second quarter.

That’s when John Marshall cornerback Michael Post leveled quarterback Sterling Shepard on a keeper around right end.

John Marshall quarterback Brendon Jordan keeps the ball during Friday’s game at Heritage Hall. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

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It sent Shepard to the sidelines for the remainder of the game and sparked a tremendous defensive effort from the Bears in a 12-7 upset Friday night at Pop Murray Field.

Shepard had been key in the Chargers’ resurgence after an 0-3 start. He took over at quarterback and promptly helped the Hall reel off five consecutive wins to sit atop the District 2A-1 standings.

But the Bears (7-2, 4-2) had other ideas. The struggling program, which produces some big-league talent but a lot of small-time wins, limited Heritage Hall’s offense to Barry Sanders Jr. left, Barry Sanders, Jr. right and stuffed everything but the short passing game.

The final test came with 5:04 remaining, when John Marshall dropped Sanders on a fake punt try with inches to spare from the desperate Chargers’ own 19-yard line.

From there the Bears needed three plays to score. Quarterback Brendon Jordan hit Derrick Allen from 19 yards out and a 12-7 lead.

"I don’t know what to say,” John Marshall coach Bruce Troxell said. "I personally thought it was a great call. I’d have made that call and I have. But our defense just stepped up tonight. They wrapped up and made plays.

"We’ve come a long way. I’ve taken over down programs before but nothing like this. The kids believe in themselves. Our administration, parents and coaches got behind us and now we’re turning the corner. We’re doing things right. We’re demanding of the kids. They go to class, they study, they work hard. It’s a big win for us.”

But it does nothing for the Bears’ playoff hopes. Their fate comes next week when they play host to Perry.

"I’ll let them enjoy this but we’ve really got to get back and focus,” Troxell said. "The best thing we can take out from this is confidence.”

Both teams played good defense mixed with sporadic offense.

The Bears scored first, when A.J. Clark forced a late first-quarter fumble at the Chargers’ 12. Jordan capitalized on the turnover by sprinting in from 9 yards out and a 6-0 lead. He finished with 50 yards rushing and 94 passing.

Sanders put Heritage Hall in front 7-6 when he broke free on his first of two big runs, a 64-yarder in the second period. The sophomore finished with 128 yards on 26 carries, moving him over 1,300 yards for the season.

"That’s probably the best tailback in the state and he had 128 yards, but we did a good job on him,” Troxell said. "You know, that’s just football. Just like that hit on their quarterback, it’s just football. That was a hard-hitting game.”