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Marshall unleashes beastly effort in the backfield, powers WL Western past Mott in KLAA showdown

By By SCOTT M. BURNSTEIN @MIPrepZone, 10/03/16, 2:00PM EDT

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hey call Walled Lake Western senior tailback Jalen Marshall "Beast Mode" in honor of his similar rugged running style to recently-retired NFL All-Pro Marshawn Lynch.

Well, the broad-shouldered, compact-built Marshall (6-foot-0, 225 pounds) was certainly living up to his Beast Mode nickname Friday night by going into beast mode early and often while shredding the Waterford Mott defense for 122 yards and four touchdowns in leading his Warriors to an emphatic 38-7 victory on the road in Week 6.

Longtime Western head coach Mike Zdebski was impressed by what he saw from Marshall.

“That’s one big, bruising back right there,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be the one tackling him when he’s picking up a head steam through the tackles. That’s scary. He’s tough and durable. He had a nice game.”

Marshall scored on runs of 5, 2, 3 and 4 yards respectively, consistently taking the ball up the gut of the Mott defense and getting significant yardage on his carries after tacklers made initial contact. He has a total of nine touchdowns this season.

Western is 5-1, ranked No. 3 in the state in Division 2 and sit atop the standings in the KLAA North in the team's quest for a fourth league title in a row. The Warriors shared the 2014 crown with Mott.

Zdebski's squad is balanced on offense, averaging better than 40 points per outing. Entering the season, the passing game was a foregone conclusion with an aerial arsenal anchored by Princeton-bound quarterback Johnny Tracy and a deep receiving corps led by future Michigan State Spartans split end Cody White and all-league slot specialist Kam Ford.

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The rushing attack paced by Marshall and Jamon Benson has been a pleasant surprised. Benson (70 yards Friday), more of a speedy, scat-back type than punishing, straight-ahead ball toter like Marshall, played at Warren Fitzgerald last year.

"Those two really compliment each other out there," Coach Z said.

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Tag(s): News  Walled Lake Western  WLW JV  WLW Freshmen