Isaiah Marshall ends career with state title, support from Kansas fans

Southfield A&T was on the verge of knocking off Belleville, the two-time defending state champions and held the lead for much of the Michigan Division 1 state title game.

With a little less than five minutes left in the game Belleville took the lead and it would come down to one final drive for the championship.

Kansas quarterback commit Isaiah Marshall took over with 4:47 remaining and 69 yards from the end zone trailing 32-28.

He marched Southfield A&T down the field and scored the game-winning touchdown on an 11-yard run. He then ran in the two-point conversion to give his team a 36-32 lead.

Before the drive started, he had a conversation with his head coach Aaron Marshall.

“As soon as they scored to take the lead with a couple of minutes left to go, my head coach turned to me and said he wouldn't want it any other way,” Marshall said. “We've prepared for these moments because the whole season, there was a lot of moments we had like that where we had to score with the final time left on the clock.”

Belleville got the ball late with a chance to answer. But the Southfield A&T defense came up with a big stop. Dorian Freeman intercepted a pass from Bryce Underwood, a five-star prospect who is the nation’s top quarterback in the 2025 class.

“I just knew I had to take it play by play,” Marshall said. “We didn't want to try and score off of one play because we didn't want to leave too much time on the clock. So, we knew we had to run the ball just a little bit, take some shots down the field, and we executed very well.”

It was a storybook ending to cap off Marshall’s high school career.

“It feels amazing just to do it for my team, my coaches, and the community of Southfield for their support,” Marshall said. “Going into the game, most people didn't think we were going to win. They all thought we were going to get blown out, all the reporters and people. They thought we were going to lose. So just showing up and doing what we do and just proving everybody wrong feels good.”

Both Isaiah Marshall and Jalen Todd will end their careers as state champions. Their next stop will be in Kansas in January. Todd could not play in the game after an injury but provided leadership to his teammates.

During the playoff run and the state final game, Marshall noticed the support on social media from the Jayhawks fans.

“It means a lot,” he said. “Just the support that they gave me. It just means a lot, and I'm ready to be a part of that culture.”

After the game Marshall said all of the Kansas coaches reached out to him and he spoke with quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski. He is part of the Detroit pipeline that Kansas built after Lance Leipold was hired. Linebackers coach Chris Simpson recruits Detroit and has established long-time connections in the area.

Marshall said he wants to take a week or two off to rest. He is up for Mr. Football, an award that will be announced soon.

“After that, I'm going to just get right back to the ground working,” he said. “I'm going to start training and doing my offseason work and also just getting ready to enroll early at Kansas.”