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Marshall wins in postseason for 1st time

2-point conversion is key in knocking Alter from D-III playoffs, 35-27.

Thurgood Marshall running back, Tavonn Crisp shakes a tackle Saturday night Nov. 4 against Alter in the division III football playoffs at Welcome Stadium.

Staff Photo by Jim Noelker Thurgood Marshall running back, Tavonn Crisp shakes a tackle Saturday night Nov. 4 against Alter in the division III football playoffs at Welcome Stadium.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Jeff Ermann, Contributing Writer Updated 3:22 PM Saturday, November 5, 2011

DAYTON — Thurgood Marshall coach Earl White didn’t merely have the best season in school history on the line — he had the pride of a city on his shoulders.

So with his team trailing by a point and less than four minutes left in Marshall’s Division III, Region 12 playoff game against Alter, White called a timeout to stew on an enormous decision.

It had been 25 years since Dunbar knocked off a Kirk Herbstreit-led Centerville team, the last time a city school had won in the playoffs. For Marshall, this was a chance to win in the postseason for the first time ever.

So White, using rationale he would later describe in three words — “I said, ‘What the heck?’ ” — sent his offense back onto the field for a two-point conversion try rather than kicking a game-tying extra point. Seconds later, Marshall senior Tavonn Crisp swept around left end, out-raced unbeaten Alter’s entire defense to the goal line and scored the decisive points in his team’s 35-27 upset at Welcome Stadium.

After Crisp all but sealed the game moments later with a 31-yard touchdown run, White bounced up and down the sideline, bear-hugging everyone in sight and eventually succumbing to tears.

“I’m happy,” he said, “and I’m proud for Dayton Public Schools.”

Crisp scored four touchdowns and ran for 168 of Marshall’s 307 rushing yards, giving the Cougars (10-1) their 10th consecutive win and boosting them to a second-round, neutral-site meeting with Springfield Shawnee. With 3:33 left, he took a jet sweep left and used his blazing speed to beat the entire Alter defense to the pylon. Then his coach called for the same play, on what was surely the biggest two-point conversion in school history.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Crisp said. “We needed a two.”

Marshall had taken a quick 6-0 lead when Crisp burst 34 yards untouched into the end zone less than four minutes in. Alter (10-1) answered with a 14-play drive culminating in Andrew Dimario’s field goal. Marshall muffed the ensuing squib kick and Alter capitalized when Joe Penno scored from 6 yards out.

By the time Marshall fell on the following squib kick, Alter had held the ball for nearly 10 minutes consecutively. But the Cougars showed the resolve that had carried them to nine straight wins following a season-opening loss to Trotwood-Madison, driving 74 yards to retake the lead — the final chunk coming when Denzel Norvell caught a pitch from Crisp on a double-handoff and streaked 34 yards for a TD.

Minutes later, after an Alter fumble, Crisp broke loose and raced into the end zone, untouched again, to give the Cougars a 10-point lead. But Alter posted the next three scores, taking a 27-20 lead three minutes into the fourth quarter.

That set the stage for White’s big decision — and Crisp’s heroics. “I told them, if they stop us, they win. If they don’t stop us, we’re gonna win,” White said. “I always dreamed of this, but you never lose in your dreams.”