Mart’s Powerful Rushing Attack Ignites Panthers’ 69-15 Rout of West Sabine

PALESTINE -- The Mart Panthers put on clinic Saturday night in their Class 1A Division I Region III area-round playoff against West Sabine.

Mart rushed for 648 yards and scored on all 10 offensive possessions, rolling to a 69-15 victory at Wildcat Stadium.

The Panthers (9-2) will face San Augustine (9-2) in a regional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Friday back at Wildcat Stadium. West Sabine, which began the season 6-0, finished its season at 9-3.

Mart freshman running back D'Marcus Cosby ran for a game-high 243 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 carries. His scoring runs covered 57, 89, 12 and 14 yards.

Quarterback De'Nerian Thomas added 136 yards on the ground and completed both pass attempts for 49 yards, including a 30-yard TD to Lane Cobbs that accounted for Mart's first touchdown of the night.

Quentin Bryant was the third member of the Mart squad to eclipse the century mark on the night, going for 117 yards and two touchdowns on only four attempts.

West Sabine was led by quarterback Desmond Lacey, who completed 5 of 13 passes for 109 yards, ran for a team-best 60 yards with a touchdown and returned a kickoff 86 yards for the Tigers' only score of the second half.

Mart ran just 13 offensive plays in the first half to 42 for West Sabine, but managed to put up 387 yards and build a 35-7 halftime lead.

The Panthers' first score of the night followed a long West Sabine drive that was stopped on downs inside the 5-yard line. It took Mart four plays to go in front, scoring on the 30-yard scoring strike from Thomas to Cobbs.

Again West Sabine trekked into the red zone, but its drive was stopped on downs. Mart countered in three plays with Bryant's 66-yard scoring run. The PAT was no good, but Mart led 13-0 just 11 seconds into the second quarter.

The Tigers were finally able to finish a drive, scoring on Lacey's 20-yard run, which cut the deficit to 13-7 with 9:46 to go in the second quarter. The score was set up by a clutch 37-yard completion from Lacey to Nick Williams on third-and-20.

Mart had the answer once more, scoring two plays later on a 57-yard run by Cosby.

West Sabine advanced the ball into Panthers territory, but once again its drive was stopped on downs. Mart took over at its own 11 after a 32-yard punt, but Cosby dashed 89 yards to paydirt on the drive's first play, which gave Mart a commanding 28-7 lead with 3:12 to go in the half.

The Panthers put the finishing touches on a dominant first half after Austin Rauls intercepted Lacey, which gave the Mart the ball at its 23 with 1:20 showing on the clock.

Three plays later, Bryant dashed 32 yards to the end zone to give Mart the comfortable 35-7 lead at the break.

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Class A Division I Region III Area Playoff
At Wildcat Stadium, Palestine
Mart 69, West Sabine 15
West Sabine        0    7    8    0   --   15
Mart                    7   28  20  14   --   69
First Quarter
MAR--Lane Cobbs 30 pass from De'Nerian Thomas (Bryson Nail kick), 4:14.
Second Quarter
MAR--Quentin Bryant 66 run (kick failed), 11:49.
WS--Desmond Lacey 20 run (Joshua Duffey kick), 9:46.
MAR--D'Marcus Cosby 57 run (Thomas run), 8:53.
MAR--Cosby 89 run (Nail kick), 3:12.
MAR--Bryant 32 run (Nail kick), :56.
Third Quarter
MAR--Cobbs 2 run (Nail kick), 9:44.
MAR--Cosby 12 run (kick failed), 5:33.
WS--Lacey 86 kickoff return (Jordan Galloway run), 5:07.
MAR--Cosby 14 run (Nail kick), 2:30.
Fourth Quarter
MAR--Brun'Tae Parr 1 run (Nail kick), 6:48.
MAR--Austin Rauls 34 run (Nail kick), 2:19.

                                        WS               MAR
First Downs                         12                   25
Rushes-Yards                40-155            43-648
Passing Yards                     114                  49
Comp.-Att.-Int.               6-15-1              2-2-0
Punts-Avg.                      1-32.0                 0-0
Fumbles-Lost                       5-1                 1-0
Penalties-Yards                   6-35               1-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--West Sabine, Desmond Lacey 20-60, Nick Williams 7-45, Hunter Cabral 6-22, Jordan Galloway 4-17, Ty Fore 2-12, Tyler Sepulvado 1-(-1). Mart, D'Marcus Cosby 10-243, De'Nerian Thomas 13-136, Quentin Bryant 4-117, Demetrius Reed 4-46, Austin Rauls 5-56, Walker Love 2-29, Lane Cobbs 3-24, Brun'Tae Parr 2-4.
PASSING--West Sabine, Lacey 5-13-1--109, Reshod Williams 1-1-0--5, Nick Williams 0-1-0--0. Mart, Thomas 2-2-0--49.
RECEIVING--West Sabine, Nick Williams 3-57, Reshod Williams 2-52, Lacey 1-5. Mart, Cobbs 2-49.