By Zane Miller

Barrels wide receiver Jalin Marshall caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Dalton Oliver, including the first touchdown in franchise history, as Kentucky defeated the Michigan Arsenal 34-26 on Sunday night in the first-ever AF1 game for both teams.

Marshall also racked up 110 yards on seven receptions, accounting for the bulk of the Barrels’ total yardage through the air. On the team’s opening drive of the evening, Oliver connected with Marshall for an 18-yard touchdown, before following it up with a 31-yard strike in the second quarter as he broke free into the end zone. With the Arsenal defense placing a stricter emphasis on covering Marshall later on, fellow receivers Darius Prince and Dezmon Epps got involved with three catches each for a combined 80 yards and a touchdown.

“Jalin did some good things, but they started doing double teams on him,” Barrels head coach Cedric Walker said. “That’s why we went to Darius a lot, being an arena vet, he came through for us.”

The matchup was tightly contested from start to finish, with neither team leading by more than one possession at any point. Shortly after Kentucky opened the scoring, Michigan followed with their own first touchdown in team history as wide receiver Jairus Grissom grabbed a Malik Henry pass in the right corner of the end zone. Later on, with less than a minute to go in the first half, Henry ran it in himself to cut the Barrels’ lead to 14-12 at halftime.

The home fans wouldn’t have to wait long for a response, however, as Epps produced an electrifying 57-yard kick return score to start the second half, reacting quickly to an awkward bounce off of the net. The ensuing extra point try was unsuccessful, enabling the Arsenal to even the game up on their next possession as Henry found receiver Daniel Williams III from 14 yards out. Williams hauled in the two-point conversion for the octopus, but the Barrels were able to keep the back-and-forth touchdown trend going.

Epps had another strong return to set the Barrels offense up with a short field, where Oliver needed only a couple of plays to find Prince for a 21-yard score. The team then attempted a fake PAT for two which was stopped just short of the goal line, but swiftly got their point back anyway. Kicker Aaron Baum drilled the kickoff off the bar surrounding the left side net, forcing returner Jarvai Flowers to readjust. In doing so, he was unable to escape the end zone before being brought down by Jalen Wilson for the rare one-point rouge, increasing the Barrels’ lead to 27-20.

Undaunted, the Arsenal worked their way down the field from their own five-yard line, setting up what was ruled a 15-yard touchdown pass from Henry to Grissom for the latter’s second of the night. Michigan looked to tie it up once again, but a botched snap forced an impromptu two-point conversion attempt which fell incomplete, retaining the lead for the Barrels with one quarter left to play.

Both defenses took over in the final frame, with a lengthy Barrels drive ending in a turnover on downs and the Arsenal drive culminating in a long field goal attempt. However, another bad snap would cost Michigan dearly, as it resulted in a turnover on downs at their own five-yard line. Even a missed field goal try would have likely set Kentucky up with less than ideal field position (with a missed field goal being placed where it was returned/kicked out of bounds rather than at the spot of the kick), instead the Barrels would already be within striking distance.

Facing a third and goal at the one-minute warning after running some time off the clock, fullback Vincent DiLeo, who had been held to just two rushing yards on his two opportunities, came through with a leap over the goal line after receiving the backfield toss to restore the team’s eight-point lead.

The Arsenal moved just past midfield, but crucial pass breakups from defensive backs Joe Powell and Mike Lee brought up a fourth down situation. On the fourth down play, Henry threw the ball up to Trevante Long in one-on-one coverage with Lee, but Lee knocked it out of bounds to seal the 34-26 victory and the first in the history of the Barrels.

Despite taking the victory, Walker believes that there is still room for improvement going into next week’s home matchup against the Oceanside Bombers.

“I thought we left a lot of plays out there,” Walker said. “It’s something that we can build upon, we’ll watch the film, make some changes and go from there.”

Oliver finished with three touchdown passes and 190 passing yards, while Henry posted 244 passing yards with three TDs as well, with neither quarterback throwing an interception.

Defensively, Wilson led the way for the Barrels with 11 tackles, with defensive back Joe Powell adding eight and Shiloh Flanagan stepping in for an injured Cedric Thomas to post five tackles. Defensive lineman Ezekiel Rose was also credited with two sacks in the win.

Scoring summary

1Q 7:11 KEN #17 J. Marshall 18-yd TD pass from #7 D. Oliver (PAT good)- Barrels 7-0

1Q 3:33 MIC #2 J. Grissom 14-yd TD pass from #16 M. Henry (PAT no good)- Barrels 7-6

2Q 10:59 KEN #17 J. Marshall 31-yd TD pass from #7 D. Oliver (PAT good)- Barrels 14-6

2Q 0:49 MIC #16 M. Henry 2-yd TD run (2-pt conv. no good)- Barrels 14-12

3Q 14:43 KEN #3 D. Epps 57-yd TD kick return (PAT no good)- Barrels 20-12

3Q 9:15 MIC #1 D. Williams III 14-yd TD pass from #16 M. Henry (2-pt conv. good)- Tied 20-20

3Q 6:50 KEN #6 D. Prince 21-yd TD pass from #7 D. Oliver (2-pt conv. no good)- Barrels 26-20

3Q 5:54 KEN #10 J. Wilson 1-pt rouge- Barrels 27-20

3Q 0:24 MIC #2 J. Grissom 15-yd TD pass from #16. M. Henry (2-pt conv. no good)- Barrels 27-26

4Q 0:54 KEN #35 V. DiLeo 3-yd TD run (PAT good)- Barrels 34-26

Final Score: Barrels 34, Arsenal 26