Goffstown, n.h.
Playing in Friday’s sixth annual CHaD East-West Game at Saint Anselm College’s Grappone Stadium, a showcase that benefits the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth, was one more way for Marshall to give back to the organization that saved his life. This time, the 5-foot-11 wideout was in cleats and shoulder pads — the one and only time he can be part of the East-West Game as a player.
One problem: The weather wouldn’t cooperate. The game was suspended in the second quarter due to a relentless mix of heavy rain and lightning that delayed kickoff by an hour before play was stopped entirely. The contest will resume at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Manchester Memorial High. The West has a 7-0 lead.
“I’ve never been a part of something like this,” West head coach Jim Schubert said. “College, high school, never. I’m just glad nobody got hurt. My playbook, I’m going to have to blow-dry it or something.”
Marshall was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 8 years old and spent five years receiving care at CHaD. Since then, he’s done his best to give back.
“I’m super honored to be a part of this game because of everything associated with it,” Marshall said during pregame warmups, when the weather was still tame. “It’s more than everything that happens on the field tonight.”
Marshall took up football as a sophomore at Hanover, settling in as a wide receiver and safety. He played soccer and lacrosse growing up but was drawn to football as a way to relieve stress. But it took a while for him to trust his body to perform athletically.
“My dad played football; my older brother played football,” he said. “I slowly got into it as I got older.”
He found out he had been chosen for the East-West Game a few weeks after Hanover’s football season ended.
“I wasn’t the greatest player on my team,” Marshall said. “At the beginning of the season, we talked to our coaches and set goals. It wasn’t this amount of touchdowns or this many blocks. I had one goal, and that was to make East-West.”
That wish was at least partially fulfilled on Friday.
Rain began to fall around 6 p.m. at Grappone Stadium, eventually unleashing a downpour that delayed the 7 p.m. start by an hour. Each lightning strike — there were several before the scheduled kickoff — restarted a 30-minute countdown before each team’s warmups could resume. The coin toss was held indoors, and pregame ceremonies were cut to a minimum in an attempt to play as much of the game as possible. Players, coaches and fans waited out the storm under the bleachers and in their cars, eventually returning to a field that was more water than turf.
“The problem was this: At one point, we had both teams wanted to play (on Sunday). The players said yes, 100 percent. The coaching staff, yes. Referees, yes. Everything was yes except for a field,” Schubert said. “We didn’t have a field to play on because it’s Fourth of July weekend, a long weekend for the people who run the field. They couldn’t get it to maintain the field. So they made the decision to play it and go over to Memorial. Matter of fact, (Manchester) Mayor (Ted) Gatsas got the field for us.”
Stevens High wide receiver Parker Smith set up the game’s opening score in the first quarter with a 17-yard reception from West quarterback Justin Grassini (Merrimack). Nick Leahy (Bedford) cut to his right and found some space on the right sideline for 21 yards and the opening touchdown with 31.1 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
“I was surprised because the ball was dry; I thought it’d be wet,” Smith said of his lone catch. “I grabbed onto it like it was my baby, like it was my first-born child.”
Play was stopped with 11:36 left in the second quarter after another lightning bolt, seconds after Lebanon’s Ryan Milliken’s first touch of the night, an 18-yard punt return.
Marshall did not see the field on Friday. Hanover teammate Reed Winter made one appearance, and fellow Marauder Schuyler Cyrus had minimal playing time.
The teams will finish out the 12-minute quarter — shortened in an attempt to get the game in — and will play two 15-minute quarters in the second half on Sunday.
Marshall, who plans to attend the University of New Hampshire in the fall, said he still plans on giving back to CHaD and spreading the word about its work in college.
“I’ve been able to speak at the (CHaD football) banquet, raise awareness and get the word out for this event (in the past). This year, I’m able to actually play in the game and raise money and give back to the people that inspired me and got me to where I am today,” he said.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.