Marshall forced four second half turnovers and used its big-play capabilities to pull away from a pesky Mount Pleasant team en route to a 42-14 District 13-4A win Friday night at Maverick Stadium.

The outcome gave the Mavericks (7-3, 5-1) a season-best three-game winning streak and set up a bi-district playoff match at Kilgore at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Marshall defeated Kilgore, 41-14, earlier this season.

Courtney Case/News Messenger (ENLARGE)

Marshall's Sam Oney catches a Mount Pleasant player in a high tackle during Friday's game at Maverick Stadium. Marshall won 42-14.

Although the Mavs never trailed against the Tigers (3-7, 1-5), Marshall did commit a season-high 11 penalties for 91 yards, while allowing Mount Pleasant to control the pace of the game through its grinding rushing attack.

But the differences in the teams showed midway through the third, just after the Tigers reeled off an elongated, seven-minute drive that spanned 82 yards on 13 plays. Cash Thompson capped the march with an 18-yard scoring pass to D.K. Mitchell on a 4th-and-13, pulling Mount Pleasant to within 27-14 with 9:10 left in the fourth.

Then Jamal Anderson struck.

Marshall's shifty senior running back ripped off a 53-yard scoring run on the next play from scrimmage, lifting his team's lead back to three possessions just 14 seconds after the Tigers' laborious scoring drive.

"It was just staying focused," said Anderson, who led his team with 98 yards on eight carries. "I was just being focused and concentrating, knowing it's going to be there, following my blockers and believing in it."

Two plays after Anderson's run, the Mavericks' Bryce French intercepted a Buff Hurndon pass to set up a three-play scoring drive that Anthony Davenport punctuated with a 12-yard scoring rumble, putting the game out of reach with 6:37 left.

"Any time you win the turnover ratio, you're going to win the ball game," said Marshall head coach Thedrick Harris. "I wasn't pleased with the penalties. We preached it all week, but I think at the beginning, they looked ahead a little bit and that's something we can't do. But now, all that's over. We still got a big victory with some of the mistakes we made and we still finished out the regular season with a bang."

Davenport (three carries, 33 yards) had two rushing touchdowns, as did J.C. Haigwood (eight carries, 63 yards). French added 50 rushing yards on three carries and Demeon Timmons (three carries, 45 yards) notched a score on the ground.

Leading 14-7 late in the third, Marshall again used the quick-strike formula to string together a pair of touchdowns within a 17-second span.

The first came from Haigwood on a 2-yard bulldoze, capping a 20-yard drive. Jaquan Kelly then recovered a Mount Pleasant fumble on the next play from scrimmage, leading to a Timmons 7-yard score and a 27-7 advantage.

Sam Oney and Davenport also recovered fumbles for the Mavericks.

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FIRST HALF

Mount Pleasant did exactly what it set out to do, using its bruising ground game to chew up yardage and the clock.

The end result, though, was still a 14-7 Marshall lead at the break, despite the Tigers' 16:27 to 7:33 advantage in time of possession.

Mount Pleasant's longest march lasted 8 minutes, 46 seconds and was capped by a touchdown plunge by Thompson that knotted the score at 7-7 with 10:42 left in the second.

The Tigers garnered six first downs during the drive, which consisted of 14 plays, all of which were runs.

Followin a fumble on the Mavs' ensuing drive, Mount Pleasant again reeled off a long drive, this one lasting five-and-a-half minutes, but Marshall turned the Tigers away on a 4th-and-2 with just more than two minutes left.

The turnover on downs set the Mavs up with a short field, and they capitalized with a five-play drive that Haigwood finished with a 2-yard touchdown plow.

Marshall notched the only score of the first quarter when Davenport found the end zone from two yards out with 7:44 showing on the clock. Anderson had a 28-yard rush and French had a 30-yard keeper during the possession.

Mount Pleasant's Landon Whitaker led all players with 100 yards on 23 carries.