[By Anthony Hawthorne, Special to ETSN.fm]

LONGVIEW -- It wasn’t pretty, but the Mavs will take it.

Marshall outlasted a gutty Pine Tree team to pull out a 35-28 victory, in the process improving to 5-0 for the first time since 1996 before a big crowd at Pirate Stadium.

The win sets up a big showdown next Friday night at Maverick Stadium, where Marshall will host Longview in the 105th meeting between the two sides. With both teams posting a 2-0 district record, the game could very well decide the district championship.

Justin Hart completed 8 of 14 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, all coming in the second half, including the game-winner with 5:02 remaining to break a 28-28 deadlock. Cameron Haller led the way on the ground for the Mavs, grinding out 166 yards on 27 carries while adding his 18th rushing TD of the season.

The receiving duo of Trel Patton and Jaquavian Dabbs came up big for the Mavs in a tough second half.

Taking the second half kickoff in a 14-14 ballgame, the Mavs looked energized after a rough first half.

Haller took the first three carries of the drive for 11, 5, and 11 yards with a Pirate personal foul adding to the drive. Two plays later Hart connected with Dabbs in the end zone, with the receiver going up over a defender to snag the ball for the score and the 21-14 lead.

The Pirates appeared to equalize three plays later as Daniel Bonamy hit Trey Pruitt for a 53-yard touchdown strike on third-and-6, but the play was called back for an illegal forward pass. Bonamy was picked off by Deondre Osborne to end the drive, setting up the Mavs at the Pine Tree 43-yard line.

A pair of Haller carries moved the ball to the 31-yard line, where on fourth-and-10 Hart rolled out and heaved one into the end zone with Dabbs once again out jumping the secondary to haul it in, giving the Mavs what appeared to be a commanding 28-14 lead.

Pine Tree hung around, however, behind the arm of Bonamy and the legs of Maliq Owens.

Bonamy hit Pruitt for 12 yards and Owens scooted for eight and 16 yards on consecutive plays to move the ball to the Mavs' 38-yard line. Bonamy hit Shaffer Russell two plays later for a 17-yard TD, his third score of the night after rushing for a pair in the first half. The two-point attempt failed, leaving the Pirates down 28-20.

Pine Tree (1-4, 0-2) forced a punt and went right back down the field.

Consecutive runs of 7, 20, 4 and 11 yards by Chism moved the Pirates inside the Mavs 5-yard line. Two plays later Russell got in the endzone from 3 yards out for his fourth score of the night. Bonamy added the 2-point conversion on the ground for a 28-28 tie with 11:12 remaining.

Bonamy completed 18 of his 26 passes for 164 yards, while Chism was the workhorse on the ground, carrying the ball 23 times for 150 yards. Russell took advantage of his four carries, with three of those going for scores while adding four catches for 70 yards and accounting for all four of Pine Tree scores.

After both teams traded punts, the Mavs took over with 7:11 remaining at the Pirate 43-yard line.

A 13-yard run by Haller moved the Mavs to the 30-yard line, but a penalty and negative run put them at second-and-20. Haller carried for 10 yards, and on the next play Hart hit Patton in the end zone for a 30-yard strike to put the Mavs ahead for good with 5:02 remaining.

Patton finished the night with four catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, while Dabbs added two catches for 55 yards and a pair of touchdowns, all in the second half.

The Pirates' final drive was stifled with consecutive tackles for loss by Tre Macon and Antonio Washington, forcing a punt that would seemingly end things, as the Mavs ran the clock out.

It was a sloppy first half for both teams, especially the Mavs, while Pine Tree (1-4, 0-2) opened the game with an impressive drive.

Starting at their own 30-yard line, Owens took the games first carry 49 yards to the Mavs' 21-yard line. A personal foul penalty on third down kept the Pirates' drive alive and Russell got his first score of the night from a yard out on third-and-goal, giving the Pirates a quick 7-0 lead.

The Mavs (5-0, 2-0) wasted little time responding as Trel Patton bobbled the ensuing kickoff, picked it up and took it to the house from there, zig-zagging his way to a 93-yard touchdown and a tie game.

After forcing a punt on the next drive, the Mavs appeared poised to take the lead. Hart found Patton deep up the middle and he appeared to be heading for paydirt but was stripped and Keshawn Gray recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.

With nothing doing for the Pirate offense the Mavs got the ball back at their own 45 after a punt and took advantage.

An 11-yard run from Haller got the drive going and Hart hit Patton down the sideline for 37 yards to the Pine Tree 7-yard line. Haller finished the drive off on the next way, powering his way up the middle for a score, giving the Mavs the 14-7 lead.

Pine Tree evened things up on the next possession with an efficient six-play drive that covered 60 yards and took just under two minutes. Bonamy ran for eight yards in between completions of six yards to Cameron Easley and a 40-yarder to Russell to the 1. Russell punched it in a play later, evening things up for the Pirates going into halftime.

Pine Tree takes to the road next Friday where they will look for their first district victory when they travel to Texas High.

Marshall 35, Pine Tree 28

At Pirate Stadium, Longview

Marshall    14    0    14    7  --  35
Pine Tree    7    7      6    8  --  28
First Quarter
PT – Shaffer Russell 1 run (Michael Irvin kick) 9:07
MAR – Trel Patton 93 kickoff return (Alan Martinez kick) 8:33
MAR – Cameron Haller 7 run (Martinez kick) :12
Second Quarter
PT – Russell 1 run (Irvin kick) 10:26
Third Quarter
MAR – Jaquavian Dabbs 24 pass from Justin Hart (Martinez kick) 9:51
MAR – Dabbs 31 pass from Hart (Martinez kick) 4:52
PT – Russell 17 pass from Daniel Bonamy (2-PT fails) 3:24
Fourth Quarter
PT – Russell 3 run (Bonamy 2-PT run) 11:12
MAR – Trel Patton 30 pass from Hart (Martinez kick) 5:02

                             MAR           PT
First Downs           14               14
Total Yards            390             359
Rushes-Yards        42-189        35-195
Pass Yards             201            164
Comp-Att-Int          9-15-0        18-26-1
Penalties-Yards      9-67            8-84
Fumbles-Lost         3-3              1-1
Punts-Avg              2-33.0         4-30.0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Marshall, Cameron Haller 27-166, Chavis Mills 11-25, Trel Patton 2(minus-2), Justin Hart 2-0. Pine Tree, Maliq Owens 23-150, Daniel Bonamy 5-35, La’Darius Webb 3-4, Shaffer Russell 4-6.
PASSING – Marshall, Hart 8-14-0--201, Haller 1-1-0--0 Pine Tree, Bonamy 18-26-1--164.
RECEIVING – Marshall, Mills 2-32, Patton 4-102, Jalon Mitchell 1-12, Jaquavian Dabbs 2-55. Pine Tree, Owens 3-(minus-7), Cameron Easley 5-30, Konnor Johnson 2-20, Russell 4-70, Trey Pruitt 4-51.

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