Shawn Marshall, Jr. possesses all the physical trappings of a hot-shot, high school running back. He’s 5’10” tall and weighs 185-pounds with strength, explosion, speed, and quickness to burn.
Marshall is playing football at Kentucky’s highest level (6A) on a team in Kentucky’s most talent laden area. His team, Butler Traditional High School is one accustomed to competing and winning football games.
Not all traditions hold, even at a “Traditional” High School. The pandemic , if nothing else, has shown us that fact. It appears to have ushered in a downward spiral out of which the Bears have been struggling to climb.
The Bears were a consistent eight (8) win team in ’17 & ’18. There was a dip to 4-7 in 2019 which was somewhat expected in light of the roster status post the previous spring’s defections.
Then along came COVID-19 in 2020. The Bears, like many Louisville public schools, didn’t get much opportunity to succeed, finishing 1-4 in Gary Wheeler, Jr.’s swan song. Then, in ’21, and the opening salvo of the Koby Clark era, the Bears pop a 1-10.
That doesn’t mean they were without talent. They have the same impressive looking players scattered throughout the lineup as any other Class 6A Kentucky football team.
In spite of having running talent like Shawn Marshall, Jr., the Bears managed a paltry 50-offensive points in 11-games. This measly output occurred in spite of the Bears scoring a season high 20-points in the team’s lone win the entire ’21 season which occurred on opening night.
So here’s the good news/bad news scenario. Good news, Shawn Marshall, Jr., a ’23 running back, was his team’s second leading rusher and returns for the ’22 campaign. Bad news, Marshall only gained 225-yards on 90-rushing attempts.
Good news, the leading rusher, David Crawley also returns in ’22 as both Marshall and he are members of the ’23 class. Bad news, Crawley didn’t out-gain Marshall by much as Crawley only accounted for 265-yards rushing and the long rushing TD scored either by or between the pair.
We believe the Bears will return to some of its former glory under Coach Clark as early as this year. We believe both Marshall and Crawley will have break out seasons.
We believe Shawn Marshall, Jr. learned success can be a somewhat “relative term” over the course of his junior season. We believe Marshall will experience more of the “traditional” type of success in ’22, launching him onto the commonwealth-wide scene as a football and RB star.
This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!
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