By GRANT TRAYLOR

Marshall Athletics

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Football capped its 2025 spring practice session in grand fashion as Green defeated White, 41-0, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in front of 10,113 fans at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

In the first on-field contest for first-year Marshall head coach Tony Gibson, quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and running back Antwan Roberts shined offensively for Green while defensive back Boogie Trotter literally stole the show with a pair of interceptions – one returned for a touchdown – and a pair of pass breakups.

Gibson said that while the contest brought plenty of smiles, there is plenty of work to still do before the season-opener on Aug. 30 at Georgia.

Still, the success of the 2025 Spring Game – including hitting Gibson’s goal of 10,000 fans – is a huge momentum-builder going into the offseason.

“It was good to get out today in front of a large crowd and see what we could do with coaches off the field,” Gibson said. “I was impressed with some things; we turned the ball over way too much in my opinion – a couple tipped throws. “Defensively, I thought they did a really good job on the Green team of taking advantage of those. Carlos did some good things and moved the ball, a lot of scoring drives, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

The game’s format featured two quarters of live action and Green took control from the start as Del Rio-Wilson led the Green team on a pair of early scoring drives to open Saturday’s action.

After Rece Verhoff connected on a 29-yard field goal to open the scoring, Trotter intercepted his first pass of the day to set the Green team up with good field position, which Del Rio-Wilson took advantage of quickly.

Roberts set the tone on the first play with a 24-yard run and Del Rio-Wilson followed with a 25-yard pass to Jakolbe Baldwin that set up Roberts’ 1-yard TD plunge.

For Roberts, it was also a triumphant return. Coming off an ACL injury that sidelined him for all of 2024, he rushed for 35 yards on five carries with the score to make it 10-0.

“I thought Antwan Roberts showed up today,” Gibson said. “Antwan is coming off a knee this past season, but I thought he got in and ran the ball hard a couple times. It was really good to see him step up and do that. He wasn’t scared on that knee, so I was proud of him for that.”

The score ballooned to 17-0 after one quarter and the defense quickly got in on the scoring to start the second quarter when Trotter jumped a quick out and returned an interception 48 yards for the score.

It was one of four interceptions by the defensive sides on the day – two of which came from Trotter.

The Green team quarterbacks fared well on Saturday with Del Rio-Wilson finishing 5 of 7 for 113 yards while adding 21 yards and a scoring run as well. Zion Turner came in and was 4 of 5 through the air for 73 yards while rushing for 51 yards on four carries, which included a late 28-yard scoring run.

The receiving effort for Green was spread out with Antonio Harmon leading the way with three catches for 59 yards. Tight end Tracy Stephens also had a pair of catches for 58 yards while Toby Payne hauled in a pass for 27 yards also.

In addition to Trotter’s strong performance, the Green defense got a big performance from Javae Gilmore (4 tackles, 2 TFLs, sack) and Caleb Clark-Glover (5 tackles, sack).

The White team’s strongest performance of the day came on the defensive side by linebackers Chason Clark (7 tackles, 1 TFL) and Zach Howard (6 tackles). White was led in rushing by Anthony Quinn, Jr., who rushed for 21 yards on five carries.

Other big plays in the game included a 15-yard touchdown run by Green’s Sherone White, Jr., on a reverse and an interception by White’s Philipp Davis. Kicker Rece Verhoff connected on field goals of 29 and 35 yards as well.

The Spring Game capped Gibson’s first practice sessions with the team and his first as a head coach. Gibson said the events of the day, which included taking part in this morning’s Spring Fountain Ceremony and Fan Day festivities after the Spring Game, made for a special day for he and his family.

“It was surreal when I was standing in that tunnel looking out,” Gibson said. “It was impressive. I’m an emotional guy and it got me for a minute.”

Scoring Summary

First quarter
11:12 – Rece Verhoff 29 FG – 3-0
6:35 – Antwan Roberts 1 TD run (Verhoff XP) – 10-0
3:54 – Sherone White, Jr., 15-TD run (Verhoff XP) – 17-0

Second quarter
13:48 – Boogie Trotter 48 INT return for TD (Verhoff XP) – 24-0
8:28 – Carlos Del Rio-Wilson 4 TD run (Verhoff XP) – 31-0
1:51 – Zion Turner 28 TD run (Verhoff XP) – 38-0
0:00 – Rece Verhoff 35 FG – 41-0