Marshall, Del Sol slip past Canyon Springs

With his team clinging to a one-point lead Thursday night, Del Sol’s Chris Marshall did his best disappearing act.

And with it, he made Canyon Springs’ hopes of catching the Dragons vanish.

The 5-foot-7-inch Marshall disappeared in a pile near the line of scrimmage, only to emerge in space on the way to a 60-yard touchdown run, and Del Sol held on for a 31-16 road win over the Pioneers.

“He’s a smart player,” Dragons coach Preston Goroff said. “He knows how to hide himself behind those linemen, and he’s got good tools. He’s got good speed and he’s got good vision.”

Marshall’s run and the ensuing extra point gave the Dragons a 24-16 lead.

It was the second big play of the second half for Marshall, who returned the second-half kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to put Del Sol up 17-8.

Marshall showed great patience on the kick return, waiting for the seam to open before sprinting down the middle of the field.

“Chris is a very exceptional football player,” Goroff said. “The sky’s the limit with that guy.”

Canyon Springs responded on its next play from scrimmage, as Malik Brown scored on a 90-yard rush. James Jones’ 2-point conversion cut the lead to 17-16.

Del Sol appeared ready to blow things open early after taking an 11-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Marshall with 10:37 to go in the first half.

But Del Sol quarterback Troy Miller threw his second interception of the game on the team’s next drive, and Jones returned it 51 yards for a score to get the Pioneers back into the game.

Marshall finished with 138 yards on 14 carries and also intercepted a pass on defense.

Miller was intercepted three times, and Del Sol also lost a fumble.

The Dragons were still able to bounce back from a season-opening 21-14 loss to Durango.

“Its great to get your first win,” Goroff said. “It’s really tense when you don’t know how a team is going to respond after losing in the first week. They really came out and they responded well. We faced a lot of adversity tonight, and even with all the mistakes we pulled it out.”