This story is sponsored by Dental Clinic of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
OSHKOSH – Marshfield didn’t play its cleanest game of the season but did more than enough to flex its muscle again in the Valley Football Association South Division.
The Tigers ran out to a 23-0 halftime lead and went on to defeat Oshkosh West 40-12 on Friday at Titan Stadium. Marshfield (6-0, 4-0 VFA South) clinches its 17th straight WIAA playoff appearance with the victory.
Riley Gebelein ran for 136 yards on just nine carries and scored three touchdowns in the first half as the Tigers built a 23-0 lead. Cody Tarnowski finished with 96 yards on nine carries, mostly in the second half, Ryan Trierweiler added a touchdown run and Jordan Litwatis ran an onside kick back 58 yards for a touchdown as the Tigers rolled to another 20-plus point win.
Overall, Marshfield rushed 30 times for 250 yards.
Marshfield had perhaps its sloppiest game of the season, committing six penalties for 83 yards, including five personal foul penalties, and quarterback Elliot Ashbeck threw a pair of interceptions as Oshkosh West’s defensive front caused havoc for the Tigers’ offensive line.
“It was disheartening to come this far and we weren’t ready, and that’s my fault that we weren’t ready and jacked up enough and where we needed to be,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said. “I think there are still some guys that are worried about (senior center Brandon) Suchomel being hurt and our line didn’t play together and didn’t do the things they were supposed to do. But, it’s a good test for us and we know we can’t play like that anymore.”
The Tigers returned the favor, sacking Oshkosh West quarterback Dane Munsch six times.
Gebelein had touchdown runs of 57 and 13 yards in the first quarter to put the Tigers up 14-0. Gus Utech kicked a 27-yard field goal and Gebelein added a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 23-0 at halftime.
Trierweiler had a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and after Oshkosh West scored two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers tacked on 10 more points to finish the scoring.
Litwatis picked up a failed onside kick attempt by the Wildcats following their second touchdown and ran it back untouched 58 yards for a touchdown. Utech added another field goal with 1:13 remaining.
“They’re a high-pressure defense and we’re going to expect that,” Goettl said. “There’s nobody that’s going to let Elliot sit back there and throw darts at people. We have to have a better scheme to get some checkdowns and some shorter things to our backs. Our running game was great. They did some things that we kind of exposed a bit and Riley took some runs down right away.”
West quarterback Dane Munsch finished 32 of 42 passing for 261 yards and the two fourth-quarter touchdowns – 33 yards to Ethan Nelson and 27 yards to Emil Vajgrt.
“We have to tackle better,” Goettl said. “It was a great test for us. We had five defensive backs going man-to-man all night long. We’ve got to have pressure from our guys inside and we did. The ends were downfield every time and their quarterback stepped up in the pocket – I was impressed with him and how he made some plays.”
Tigers 40, Wildcats 12
Marshfield 14 9 7 10 – 40
Oshkosh West 0 0 0 12 – 12
FIRST QUARTER
M – Riley Gebelein 57 run (Gus Utech kick), 7:35.
M – Gebelein 13 run (Utech kick), 2:46.
SECOND QUARTER
M – Utech 27 field goal, 7:31.
M – Gebelein 1 run (Utech kick missed), 2:45.
THIRD QUARTER
M – Ryan Trierweiler 1 run (Utech kick), 7:24.
FOURTH QUARTER
OW – Ethan Nelson 33 pass from Dane Munsch (pass failed), 10:01.
OW – Emil Vajgrt 27 pass from Munsch (pass failed), 5:27.
M – Jordan Litwatis 58 kick return (Utech kick), 5:16.
M – Utech 40 field goal, 1:13.
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: Marshfield 13; Oshkosh West 12.
Rushing (att-yards): Marshfield 30-250; Oshkosh West 24-14.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Marshfield 13-27-118-2; Oshkosh West 32-42-261-2.
Fumbles (total-lost): Marshfield 0-0; Oshkosh West 3-1.
Penalties (total-yards): Marshfield 6-83; Oshkosh West 8-58.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: M, Riley Gebelein 9-136, Cody Tarnowski 9-96, Ryan Trierweiler 6-39, Jack Marquardt 3-7, Bo Howard 2-minus 3, Elliot Ashbeck 1-minus 11. OW, Austin Padilla 6-10, Ethan Nelson 1-9, No. 38 (name not listed) 3-8, Joel Hinke 1-0, Dane Munsch 13-minus 13.
Passing: M, Ashbeck 13-27-118-2. OW, Munsch 32-42-261-2.
Receiving: M, Austin Littmann 4-34, Gebelein 3-38, Brandon Brown 2-16, Tarnowski 2-8, Caleb Cline 1-12, Jordan Litwatis 1-8. OW, Hinke 8-36, Nelson 6-92, Emil Vajgrt 5-67, Padilla 4-19, Michael Yang 2-22, No. 38 (name not listed) 2-8, Nate Linnabary 2-7, Dakota Griffith 1-11, Cole Yoder 1-5, Eli Stanek 1-4.
Interceptions (defense): M, Brandon Baltus 2. OW, No. 38 (name not listed), Lance Yoder.
Fumble recoveries (defense): M, Justin Sternweis.
Records: Marshfield 6-0, 4-0 Valley Football Association South; Oshkosh West 1-5, 1-3 VFA South.