Caroline Marshall has always had a passion for lacrosse. But when a neighbor convinced her to give flag football a try, the Milton (GA) High School standout had no idea just what it would lead to.
Marshall, a Clemson lacrosse commit, now holds the Georgia High School Association all-time records for receiving yards and receptions while starring as a receiver and defensive back for the Eagles.
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“I’d grown up watching football with my family and throwing the ball around with my brothers and my dad,” Marshall said. “I heard my next door neighbor had played the year before me, so she recommended it. I thought it would be fun, so I signed up and I haven’t regretted it.”
Marshall has totaled 5,731 yards and 386 receptions during her career at Milton, which is ranked No. 24 in the latest USA TODAY Sports Super 25 flag football rankings. With five regular-season games remaining and a deep postseason run in sight, those numbers could continue to climb.
At 5-foot-11, Marshall was quickly slotted into the receiver position when she first began the sport. Her background as a midfielder and draw specialist in lacrosse proved to be a natural fit.
“I think dodging in lacrosse really helps with route running in flag or learning how to read the offense,” Marshall said.
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She also had a valuable resource at home. Her dad, Lindsay Marshall, was a linebacker at Duke, giving her a personal trainer from the start.
When Caroline, his only daughter, began to play football, Lindsay Marshall knew he had to be a part of it.
“I got to coach both of her brothers growing up in baseball, football and basketball, but I never really got to coach Caroline,” Lindsay Marshall said. ” Now when we watch football on Saturdays and Sundays, it’s pretty cool. She’s able to say, ‘Oh, they’re rolling from cover three to cover two or they’re running this route combination.'”
He started out as the team’s analyst during Caroline’s freshman and sophomore seasons before joining the coaching staff full time as an offensive coordinator last season.
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“He knows a lot about football,” Caroline said. “He’s really taught me a lot, so I give him credit.”
Their first season together nearly ended with a state championship. Milton got as close as a team can get to a state title, but fell to Blessed Trinity 21-20 in double overtime in the GHSA Division 4 state championship.
“Once you experience losing like that and you get that feeling, it really sticks with the whole team, Caroline said. “We talk about it all the time – we never want to feel that feeling again. I think that really pushes us to do whatever we can do to win.”
The loss carried extra weight for Caroline, who knows just what it feels like to be on the other side of that trophy. Milton’s girls lacrosse program has won six consecutive state championships and 19 of the 21 state titles contested since the GHSA sanctioned the sport.
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That winning culture is exactly what led to her commitment to Clemson, which became the first school in the NCAA to build a standalone lacrosse facility dedicated solely to women’s lacrosse.
“They are just pouring so much money, time and effort,” Caroline said. “The community is really into lacrosse and the sport is so big there.”
More: Double trouble: Sister duo powers nationally ranked flag football team’s 15-0 run
But before Caroline trades in her Eagles jersey for a Tigers one, she has unfinished business on the football field.
Milton entered this season with questions after graduating two of the state’s top players from its state runner-up squad: quarterback Audrey Jensen and wide receiver Alana Calhoun.
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This season, senior Carson McElroy, who stood alongside Marshall at receiver for three seasons, took over under center. She spent the summer learning how to play an entirely new position while building chemistry with Caroline and the rest of the receiving corps.
“It’s such a learning curve,” Lindsay Marshall said. “Carson’s just doing an awesome job.”
Any questions that loomed about this team were quickly answered.
McElroy ranks third in Georgia for passing yards with 3,005, while Marshall’s supporting cast also includes two other elite lacrosse players: Notre Dame commit Braelyn Swanick and Amelia White.
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Now riding a 14-1 record, Caroline and the Eagles have one final goal in sight: a state championship.
“We’re all looking forward to getting to Mercedes-Benz Stadium,” she said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meet the Clemson lacrosse commit who holds two Georgia flag football records
