In Brian Rials’ 23 years of roaming sidelines as a coach, he’s never seen a performance quite like that of Marquis Crosby’s game last Friday against Winona. At any level of football, 467 yards would be considered a solid, season-long total for an individual player. For Crosby, though, that’s just a solid day’s work.
The sophomore carried the ball 31 times for Seminary in their third round playoff matchup against the previously unbeaten Tigers, rushing for a jaw-dropping 467 yards and four touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 46-41 win.
Crosby has been named our Week 14 Sports601 Covington County Player of the Week.
“I didn’t even realize during the game that he had that much,” Rials said. “I was thinking probably around 300. Then, when they told me [467], I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve never even heard of that’. He [Crosby] is a special athlete, we know that.
“I told the whole team they all deserve credit. He gets the main credit for it, but they were blocking their tails off all night and opening up holes for him. It don’t take a lot for him. When he gets in the open, he can run. It was definitely a performance we’ll never forget.”
Again, Crosby treated it like another day at the office.
“The offensive line was blocking, and the holes were opening,” Crosby said. “I just let the game come to me.”
According to Rials, Winona, who was 13-0 heading into the matchup, faced spread offenses the majority of their season and were not familiar with Seminary’s Wing-T, smash-mouth style.
“Most people don’t line up and just run at them like we do,” Rials said. “We felt like we could move the ball on them; We didn’t know he [Crosby] could do that and have that many yards, but as a team, we had over 700 yards of offense. That’s just unheard of against a good team.”
Seminary (11-3) extended their win streak to 10 games with the win, advancing to the South State round of the Class 3A playoffs. After Friday’s game, Crosby has now rushed for 1743 yards and 23 touchdowns this season for the Bulldogs. He also averages a whopping 9.1 yards per carry.
“He’s the complete package,” Rials said of Crosby. “He’s just a sophomore, but people are definitely gonna start noticing him after that kind of performance.”
Crosby and the Bulldogs will be back in action Friday at home against Jefferson Davis County. The winner of that matchup will advance to the Class 3A State Championship game, which will be held next week at Southern Miss’ M.M. Roberts Stadium.
