Martial tackle

Carlton Martial (2) makes one of his 18 tackles against Marshall to set a Sun Belt Conference record and earn Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the game.

The Troy football team, led by senior linebacker Carlton Martial, put on a defensive show Saturday night at The Vet in a 16-7 victory over Sun Belt Conference foe Marshall. Martial also broke the Sun Belt record for tackles in a career with 460 in the victory.For his performance, Martial was named the Defensive Player of the Week in the Sun Belt Conference.

Troy evens its record to 2-2 on the year and now stands at 1-1 in Sun Belt action. The Thundering Herd dropped their second-consecutive game and fell to 2-2 on the year and 0-1 in SBC play.

"Really great win for our team and for our program," head coach Jon Sumrall said. "I think we came back after the heartbreak of last week and competed. We would also like to thank our fans for showing out tonight. I'm really proud of our guys for how they responded after last week."

The Trojans began their first-quarter offensive outburst on the opening drive. A 50-yard pass from Gunnar Watson to Marcus Rogers put Troy in the red zone for the first time, but a strip sack on 3rd-and-11 gave Marshall the ball.

The Thundering Herd, however, gave the ball right back to the Trojans as on second down, Marshall lost the ball on a sack from T.J. Jackson, and Buddha Jones was able to scoop the ball and take it into the back of the Marshall end zone for Troy's first score of the game. The scoop and score was Troy's first fumble return for a touchdown since 2020 at Arkansas State.

With Martial's third tackle of the game, he moved into sole possession of first place in Sun Belt Conference history as the all-time tackles leader. The senior linebacker would finish the game with 18 tackles to lead all players.

"I'm so incredibly happy for the win tonight, first and foremost," Martial said. "As for the record, I've always been judged by my size, but my dad always asked, 'Why not you?' I give all the credit to my coaches and my defensive line. Those guys are awesome, and I could go on and on talking about the work they put in. We're just 11 guys playing the game with incredible detail, and those are the results."

A field goal late in the first quarter from Brooks Buce gave Troy a 10-point lead, and both offenses were held at bay until the end of the first half. The Thundering Herd lined up for a late field goal with seconds left on the clock, but Caleb Ransaw blocked the kick to send Troy into halftime with a 10-0 advantage.

The first Marshall score of the game on the heels of a Watson interception. The Thundering Herd went two plays for 16 yards to find the back of the end zone on a 14-yard touchdown run by Khalan Laborn. The Marshall touchdown was also the first offensive touchdown of the game by either team.

A 58-yard pass from Watson to Tez Johnson on Troy's second drive of the fourth quarter set up the Trojans for a 25-yard field goal from Buce to extend their lead to 13-7 over the Thundering Herd. A late field goal from Buce solidified the defensive battle and gave Troy its ultimate 16-7 victory over Marshall.

The Trojans will play their final non-conference road game in 2022 for their next matchup. Troy will travel to Bowling Green, Ky., to take on Western Kentucky. The action from L.T. Houchens-Smith Stadium is slated to begin at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.