The Winning Slice

 DETROIT—As Craig Ratanamorn’s 41-yard field goal attempt boinked off the left upright, Rick Minter turned to his defense and gave it to them short and sweet. 

  “I told them to ‘man up,” Minter said.

  They did. And a minute later, they raised up. As one. Green bands on their wrists. Little Caesars Pizza Bowl trophy in their hands. 

  After seven long years, Marshall’s back in the bowl winners circle. As weird as it sounds. As odd as it played out.

  The Herd outlasted Ohio 21-17 in front of 30,311 Saturday afternoon at Ford Field.

  “We got out to a jumpstart lead but we had to hang on,” Minter, Marshall’s interim head coach, said. “Our defense came to play. The band of brothers on defense have been doing a great job for most of the year and they put the hammer down today when it counted the most.”

  Bobcat quarterback Theo Scott rolled to his right and threw a rocket to the sideline.

  That’s when it counted the most. 

  That’s when DeQuan Bembry made the play of his life.

  In desperation mode, Ohio took possession with 57 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and trailing 21-17. Scott’s first pass was dropped. His second was completed to LaVon Brazill for a modest four-yard pickup . His last was picked off.

  “I had to redeem myself from the touchdown (they scored on me) before,” Bembry said. “I had to do it for my senior brothers. I knew the game was on the line so I caught it and it was game over.”

  Bembry’s interception, followed quickly by Brian Anderson’s kneel down, sealed it. Minter was  then put on his players shoulders and carried to midfield, arms raised in celebration. 

  His two fists in the air signaled victory — and relief.

  The Herd had hung on. Just like it did against SMU. Not like it did against Southern Miss and UCF.

  Phew.

  “I’m sure a lot of people were saying, ‘here comes Marshall football again all over again,’” Minter said. “But that changed in the fourth quarter.”

  After one quarter, Marshall led 14-0. At the half, it was 21-7. By crunch time, it turned into a slim 21-17 advantage.

  This time, it stayed that way. 

  For a while, it seemed like the Herd D had officially taken the “O” out of OU. After two quarters, the Bobcats had all of 34 total yards. Then came the second half when it seemed like a Lake Michigan gust suddenly lifted under the Bobcats’ sails. 

  Scott, who was relatively shut down in the game’s first two quarters, injected some life into his team with 8-yard touchdown pass to Terrance McCrae with 7:11 to go in the third to cap off a five play, 37-yard drive. 

  A stalled Marshall drive and Kase Whitehead blocked punt later, the Bobcats had it back deep in Herd territory at the 35. This time, all it could manage was a Matt Weller 46-yard field goal.

  21-0 turned into 21-17 just like that.

  Then the Marshall D put its conditioned foot down.

  “Our guys conditioned to win the fourth quarter,” Minter said. “I told them all month long it will come down to the fourth quarter. Those (four) fingers went up and their hearts started and they remembered all those cold afternoons down in Huntington — the wet ones and the snowy days.

  “We ran the dogs out of those guys. But I tell you what, they responded and they had a lot of gas left in their tank when it counted most.”

  OU had three fourth quarter drives. Once, it missed a field goal. Another time, it went three-and-out. Finally, it got picked off. 

  It ran 20 plays. It scored zero points. 

  It was a dominate fourth quarter defensive effort. Luckily for the Herd, its offense dominated a good chunk of the game’s first 45 minutes.

  Backed by the powerful legs of freshman running back Martin Ward, Marshall pushed to an early 21-0 lead. Ward scored two touchdowns, including a bruising 12-yard finish in the first quarter where he broke five tackles. 

  “My O-line created that,” Ward said. “I ran hard. I cut off one, I cut off another and my O-line came and pushed me through.”

  Ward was named the bowl’s Most Valuable Player. He finished with 72 yards on nine carries.

  Freshman Andre Booker provided the Herd’s other score — an electrifying 58-yard punt return to paydirt.

  That put Marshall ahead 14-0. Ward made it 21-0 with a 2-yard run with 7:21 to play in the second quarter.

  Ratanamorn missed a late field goal, but it didn’t matter.

  Twenty-one points was all this Marshall squad needed.

  “This is Mark Snyder’s team through in and through out,” Minter said, reminding the media of the Herd’s former coach who resigned after the regular season. “We wanted to make sure we sent our seniors out a winner ... There’s brighter days ahead for Marshall football.

  “I really believe that.”

Other game notes: Junior defensive end Vinny Curry left the game early in the second quarter favoring his knee after getting knocked down by Ohio’s Kadre Pinder. The hit came late and Pinder was flagged for a personal foul penalty. Curry returned and played the second half ... D. Marshall, seeing his first action since suffering an ankle injury against Southern Miss on Nov. 14, gained 77 yards on 20 carries ... On the Bobcats’ first possession of the second half, they were stuffed on a fourth-and-1 from the Marshall 25. Scott’s shotgun keeper was halted by Kellen Harris right at the sticks ... A 21-7 Marshall halftime could have easily been more. On a fourth-and-1 from the OU 5, D. Marshall took a toss right and ran into OU’s Noah Kelly for no gain ... Marshall outgained OU 199-34 at halftime ... After a shanked 15-yarder and a blocked punt, Whitehead was replaced by Ratanamorn late in the third quarter. Ratanamorn totaled 80 yards on 2 punts. 

Andrew Ramspacher can be contacted at ramspacher@marshall.edu.