MARSHALL - First there was Wyatt Washburn juggling the ball while spinning around a Marshall defender, securing it and dashing down Maroa-Forsyth's sideline for a 76-yard touchdown.

Then there was Washburn ripping the ball out of Marshall receiver Austin Wetnight's hands and racing 52 yards - once again down the Maroa sideline - for a 52-yard touchdown.

And finally it was Dalton Coventry - his jersey ripped, soaked and brown, his face smeared with black face paint - carrying Marshall's Taylor Duncan on his back while rumbling down the field on the Trojans' game-clinching drive.

Those moments are Maroa at its best, and that's what the Trojans gave Marshall in their 31-14 Class 2A semifinal win on Saturday.

The Trojans - heading to the championship game for the second time in four years after winning the title in 2006 - will face Morrison at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

Maroa entered the game needing to slow Duncan - Marshall's dual-threat quarterback - and use its speed advantage on the outside for big plays. The Trojans did both and more.

"It just seems like we get better every week in every aspect of the game," Maroa senior Alex Colvin said.

Marshall coach Todd Evers wouldn't argue.

"They're the most talented overall team we've seen," Evers said. "They have line, skill players and a sophomore quarterback (Logan Stelzriede) who plays like a man. I like their chances next week."

Washburn had a clear speed advantage over anyone Marshall had on the outside and showed it early in the second quarter. After fumbling the ball to Marshall on Maroa's previous possession, Washburn caught a quick swing pass from Stelzriede and as he spun around his defender, he lost the ball and had no clue where it was. Luckily for the Trojans - and Washburn's health - he found it, and no one caught him on his way to the touchdown.

"We had a little heart-to-heart on the sideline after we coughed up two balls early," Maroa coach Josh Jostes said. "I threatened that someone was going to lose their arm if they fumbled again."

That threat was in Washburn's mind during that play.

"When I first caught it, the defender stripped it and it popped up in the air," Washburn said. "I was looking on the ground for it because Jostes had just yelled at me for fumbling. So I was like, ‘I have to find this ball.' Then I saw it right there and I grabbed it."

After catching a second touchdown pass later in the first half, Stelzriede put a major dent in Marshall's comeback hopes with another big play - a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown on which he reached in and ripped the ball from Wetnight's hands just as the ball arrived.

"He had it, but as it was happening, I kind of thought to myself, ‘Why is he going to catch this in front of me. I'm right there,' " Washburn said. "So I just grabbed it and took off."

Defensively, Maroa shut down Duncan - an Eastern Illinois signee - in the first half and harassed him all game. He had just 31 passing yards and 4 yards rushing in the first half. And though he had more success in the second half and finished with 44 yards rushing and 162 yards passing, he managed just one touchdown and threw two interceptions.

"We put Dalton (Coventry) on Duncan and told him not to leave the box," Jostes said. "Our defensive backs are as athletic, if not more athletic, than their receivers and our defensive line was getting a good rush. And we told Dalton, ‘If Duncan scrambles, he's yours.' I'll take Dalton making tackles on anyone we go against."

Coventry was bottled up much of the game offensively, but after Marshall closed within 10 for the second time in the second half - on a powerful 12-yard TD run from Duncan - Maroa put the game away behind the running of Coventry. On the Trojans' final offensive drive, Coventry had five carries and dragged defenders for 44 yards to set up Stelzriede's 1-yard run that iced the game.

"It was my time to step up," Coventry said. "They put me in the position to make some plays in order for us to go to the state championship, and I wasn't going to let my brothers down."

Unlike the 2006 state champs, which won every game it played by at least three touchdowns, this year's team lost twice during the regular season - including a 28-0 loss to Tuscola - and had three other games decided by two touchdowns or less. But these Trojans have caught fire in the playoffs.

"The 2006 state championship was a special thing - a great group of players," Coventry said. "But they rolled all over everyone. We started this season ugly. We rebounded. Our coach told us this is the most character he's seen on a Maroa-Forsyth football team."

jconn@herald-review.com|421-7971