Marshall head coach Thedrick Harris has preached the same message to his players all year. One week at a time, one game at a time.

Friday night was no different.

COURTNEY CASE/News Messenger (ENLARGE)

Marshall's Adrian Mccoy, left, and Teven Trammell, right, close in on Sulphur Springs quarterback Colton Lee during a District 13-4A football game Friday night in Mount Pleasant.

Although the Mavericks got their biggest win of the year thanks to a 48-13 blasting of Sulphur Springs that clinched second place and the top seed in the small school playoff bracket for themselves, the celebrating was kept to a minimum.

After the win, Harris told his team that he was proud of them, but now it's time to look ahead.

"Now we have to go back and work this week," said the head coach. "That's what we're going to concentrate on and that's our focus now. They (the players) have continued to get better (each week) and we're going to look at doing that again this week."

Marshall (6-3, 4-1) played arguably its best game of the season against the defending state champion Wildcats (6-3, 2-3), limiting their high-scoring offense to only two touchdowns and no points in the second half.

The Mavericks also forced a season high four turnovers while their own offense had very little trouble finding the end zone, as they notched touchdowns on their first five possessions en route to the big win.

"We used a lot of different formations to try and get them to line up in some different fronts," Harris said. "That enabled us to get out(side). Once again, we were able to get the ball in a lot of people's hands and I think the biggest part is we protected the football. I think that was the difference."

For the second straight week, Marshall had a pair of rushers eclipse the 100-yard mark with Jamal Anderson going for 128 yards and a score and Bryce French adding 125 yards and a touchdown. Not to mention, J.C. Haigwood tacked on another 80 yards and three scores, all of which came in the first half as the Mavericks built a 34-7 lead by the 7:04 point of the second quarter.

French and D.D. Clough also led the turnover brigade, each with an interception, while Sam Oney and Teven Trammell each recovered fumbles for the Mavs, who also forced three turnovers on downs by Sulphur Springs.

Although the Mavericks now have their sights set on Mount Pleasant in their regular season finale this week, Harris still took time to reflect on the magnitude of the win over the Wildcats.

"That's tremendous for this team," he said. "We were picked fourth in this district by most people (before the season started) because we lost a lot of guys from last year, but the one thing about this team is they play hard and they believe in themselves."

A win over the Tigers at home this week would give Marshall a season-best three straight wins heading into the playoffs.