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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield scored on five of its six first-half possessions on its way to a 42-14 rout of Wausau West in a nonconference football game Friday night at Beell Stadium.
Elliot Ashbeck tossed four touchdown passes in the first half and Riley Gebelein ran for 147 yards and two scores to lead the Tigers, who improve to 2-0. West falls to 1-1.
Marshfield’s offense was clicking early as it scored on all three of its possessions in the first quarter.
After a 49-yard return of the opening kickoff by Gebelein, the Tigers needed just three plays to go the remaining 48 yards for their first touchdown – a 14-yard run by Gebelein.
After a three-and-out by West, Marshfield went 55 yards in nine plays. Ashbeck completed 3 of 4 passes on the drive, including an 8-yard scoring strike to Austin Littmann, who spun out of a tackle on a bubble screen pass and cruised into the end zone.
Marshfield made it 21-0, taking just four plays to go 57 yards as Ashbeck hit fullback Caleb Cline across the middle on a bootleg and Cline raced down the right sidelines for the score.
“We played, probably, a little bit better than we did last week,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said. “We’ve got six or seven receivers and we already moved three of them to defensive back because we have two guys injured. We have some kids that can be perimeter players for us.”
West used an 88-yard kickoff return by Brett Peters to set up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Huehnerfuss to Josh Knab with 8 seconds left in the quarter.
The Tigers continued to dominate. After a fumble stopped Marshfield’s first drive of the second quarter, Marshfield went 80 yards in five plays to score again. Ashbeck hit Littmann on a post pattern for a 30-yard touchdown to make it 28-7.
Trevor Peterson earned his second sack of Huehnerfuss and this time forced a fumble, which was recovered by Justin Sternweis at the Marshfield 38. Five plays later, Ryan Trierweiler hauled in a screen pass from Ashbeck and ran 27 yards for another score, putting the Tigers up 35-7 at halftime.
“The words we use are compete and commitment and I hope it’s getting through to the kids,” Goettl said. “They’re sticking together and believing in each other. You can’t coach speed. Riley’s a 100-meter sprint guy, so when he gets out in the open, it’s nice to see him run. Austin, you see him catch a hitch and the kid can move and scoot, so we love to throw him some short stuff and letting him just go.”
As explosive as the Tigers’ offense was, racking up 290 yards and five touchdowns in the first half, the defense was equally impressive.
Marshfield held West to 105 yards in the first half, had three sacks and forced a fumble.
Peterson and the Tigers’ defensive line created constant pressure on Huehnerfuss, and held West to 13 yards rushing in the opening two quarters.
“I was coming around on the outside and going full speed, putting the rip move on and they didn’t really have much to stop me,” Peterson said.
The dominance continued in the second half. Brandon Baltus and Zach Schwanz intercepted passes on West’s first two possessions.
After the second pick, Gebelein sliced through the Warriors defense for a 53-yard touchdown run, pushing him over the 100-yard mark for the second straight game.
West running back Kallen Bentz ran 66 yards for a touchdown on the Warriors’ next possession, and that finished the scoring.
Now Marshfield turns to Valley Football Association action, playing against Oshkosh North at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh next Friday. The first game in their new conference brings about some new challenges for the Tigers.
“I’m expecting the same thing as the Valley, some hard teams to play,” Peterson said. “We’re just ready to show them what Marshfield’s all about.”
Tigers 42, Warriors 14
Wausau West 7 0 7 0 – 14
Marshfield 21 14 7 0 – 42
FIRST QUARTER
M – Riley Gebelein 23 run (Gus Utech kick), 10:55.
M – Austin Littmann 8 pass from Elliot Ashbeck (Utech kick), 4:22.
M – Caleb Cline 28 pass from Ashbeck (Utech kick), 1:00.
W – Josh Knab 6 pass from Jordan Huehnerfuss (Lucas Bautch kick), 0:08.
SECOND QUARTER
M – Littmann 30 pass from Ashbeck (Utech kick), 7:41.
M – Ryan Trierweiler 27 pass from Ashbeck (Utech kick), 1:54.
THIRD QUARTER
M – Gebelein 53 run (Utech kick), 2:02.
W – Kallen Bentz 66 run (Bautch kick), 1:06.
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: Wausau West 14; Marshfield 14.
Rushing (att-yards): WW 36-168; M 33-223.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): WW 13-22-136-3; M 13-19-198-0.
Penalties (total-yards): WW 6-45; M 6-60.
Fumbles (total-lost): WW 2-1; M 1-1.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: WW, Kallen Bentz 11-89, Dalton Decker 5-42, Austin Kraimer 7-24, Nate Onopa 1-11, Chris Clementi 1-7, Kyle ZImick 1-6, Cole Radloff 1-minus 1, Jordan Huehnerfuss 9-minus 10. M, Riley Gebelein 16-147, Caleb Cline 2-26, Ryan Trierweiler 5-25, Jack Marquardt 6-18, Luke Wirtz 1-3, Elliot Ashbeck 1-0, Bo Howard 2-minus 1.
Passing: WW, Huehnerfuss 12-20-131-2, Clementi 1-2-5-1. M, Ashbeck 11-17-183-0, Howard 2-2-15-0.
Receiving: WW, Tylan Schillinger 4-23, Josh Knab 3-38, Onopa 2-14, Bentz 1-19, Kraimer 1-19, Brett Peters 1-18, Kyle Zimick 1-5. M, Austin Littmann 4-75, Brandon Brown 3-27, Cline 2-37, Trierweiler 1-27, Nate Saverda 1-17, Ben Satter 1-11, Dan Bargender 1-4.
Fumble recoveries (defense): WW, Billy Lammers. M, Justin Sternweis.
Interceptions: WW, none. M, Brandon Baltus, Zach Schwanz, Issac Accola.
Punting: WW, Knab 3-20.0 avg. M, Gus Utecht 3-40.3 avg.
Records: Wausau West 1-1; Marshfield 2-0.