WHITEHOUSE, Texas — The hard part is over for Marshall and Whitehouse.
They've solidified their spots in the playoffs in the coming weeks. Now, they play to make their path to a championship as easy as possible.
“The winners going to be second and the loser is going to be third." Marshall head coach Jason Hammett said. "We're not looking past anybody on this. It's very important for our guys to set a tone on in the game and play physical and fast."
Playoffs aside, a win over the Mavericks would be a special one for the Wildcats. Since his arrival as head coach two years ago, Kyle Westerberg has never beaten a Marshall team. A win would be a milestone for the Cats, and would provide momentum as they turn towards the postseason.
"It's a really good Marshall football team that we're going against," Westerberg said. "We got to bring, we got to bring her a game this week."
The Mavericks are riding a three game win streak that has featured two shutouts. The Marshall defense has given up a total of seven points in their last three games.
"Our kids play hard. That's something they've done since we got here," Hammett said. "Probably before we got here, they were playing hard, but you know how they play, and the efficiency and how smart we play is one of the things that I've seen growth out of this team."
The growth of the 2025 Mavericks class is something Hammett has seen closely. There are 27 seniors playing on varsity for his squad, and they're looking to play with the "M" on their helmets for as long as they can.
"What we talk about is, what's next for us, how do we gain another week?" Hammett said. "How do we keep this team together for another week? And that's really all our goal is this week.”
Marshall and Whitehouse were originally scheduled to play Friday, at 7:30 p.m., but inclement weather has pushed the game earlier to start at 7 p.m.
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