This story is sponsored by Forward Financial Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Riley Gebelein ran for 165 yards and four touchdowns, including a school-record score for 93 yards, and the Marshfield defense forced five turnovers as the Tigers rolled to a 42-14 win over Holmen in a WIAA Division 2 Level 2 football playoff game Friday night at Beell Stadium in Marshfield.
Marshfield (9-1) will host La Crosse Logan (6-4) on Friday, Nov. 2 in a Level 3 playoff game. The game will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and on wdlbwosq.com, with pregame starting at 6:30 p.m. Logan knocked off crosstown rival La Crosse Central 47-22 on Friday night.
“The passing game got going a little bit,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said. “Their best corner (Dillon Martinez) was hurt and that’s a big deal. Bo (Howard) had a nice game, our receivers caught passes. We played really well, pass blocked exceptionally well, and Riley ran the ball quick and now we’ve got another week.”
Gebelein scored on runs of 11 and 2 yards in the second quarter and 93 and 18 yards in the third. Quarterback Bo Howard had a 10-yard touchdown run to open the scoring in the first quarter and tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Trierweiler in the closing seconds of the first half for the Tigers.
Marshfield started the game with a long drive that ended in a missed field goal, but chewed up 5:13 on the clock and set the tone that the Tigers’ offense was going to have its way in this game.
After Noah Sconzert recovered a fumble on Holmen’s first possession, Jeffrey Allison ran a sweep for 10 yards on fourth-and-5 and Howard ran in for a 10-yard TD on the next play to put the Tigers on the board.
Holmen responded after throwing an interception but recovering a fumble on the return. On the first play of the second quarter, Austin Feuerhelm ran 24 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
Marshfield dominated from that point on.
Gebelein capped a 10-play, 71-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run as the Tigers pulled out a number of tricks.
Tanner Dennis-Brown ran 19 yards on a fake punt for a first down and on third-and-11 he took a pitch and threw a pass downfield to Howard for 12 yards and another first down. Two plays later Gebelein scored.
Gebelein added a 2-yard TD run following a 32-yard punt return by Daulton Varsho that gave Marshfield the ball at the Holmen 16. Just before halftime, Holmen punter Greg Rooney dropped the snap at his own 2, and Howard hit Trierweiler for a short touchdown pass with just 15 seconds to go in the half, putting the Tigers up 27-7.
“The past three weeks, ever since that Menasha game (a 42-7 loss), everyone has been excited about everything and wanted to get it together,” Gebelein said. “We’re just clicking the past three weeks. We switched our pass blocking schemes and everything is getting better each week.”
Holmen reached the Marshfield 7 on its first possession of the second half, but the Tigers’ defense held and took over at the 3 on downs.
After a 4-yard run by fullback Caleb Cline, Gebelein took a pitch to his left and dodged defenders, darting toward the left sideline and ran 93 yards for the touchdown. It was the longest rushing touchdown in Marshfield football history, breaking the previous record of 91 yards set by Nathan Stoflet in 1996.
“It’s a toss play – I’m not a big fan of toss plays, but I saw a crease and (offensive lineman) Tristan (Wilson) was right in front of me,” Gebelein said. “I was just trying to read off his block and I got through and hopefully I could outrun everybody, and I did.”
Gebelein added an 18-yard touchdown run on Marshfield’s next drive and the Tigers converted a two-point conversion to take a 42-7 lead and a running clock situation.
Holmen finished off the scoring with a long touchdown pass with just over a minute left in the game.
Overall, Marshfield outgained the Vikings 478-204, with 70 of Holmen’s yards coming on the final drive.
“We play Wisconsin Rapids and it’s a Rapids-style (option) offense and we didn’t veer too much from that game plan,” Goettl said. “We didn’t have to do a whole lot of training anybody. It was assignment football and make sure you tackle the guy you’re supposed to tackle, and they did that.”
Tigers 42, Vikings 14
Holmen 0 7 0 7 – 14
Marshfield 7 20 15 0 – 42
First Quarter
M – Bo Howard 10 run (Brad Krueger kick), 2:46.
Second Quarter
H – Austin Feuerhelm 24 run (Camryn Zimmerman kick), 11:53.
M – Riley Gebelein 11 run (Krueger kick), 9:03.
M – Gebelein 2 run (Krueger kick), 2:22.
M – Ryan Trierweiler 2 pass from Howard (kick missed), 0:15.
Third Quarter
M – Gebelein 93 run (Krueger kick), 7:25.
M – Gebelein 18 run (Caleb Cline pass from Colton Zahradka), 4:28.
Fourth Quarter
H – Greg Rooney 37 pass from Tyler Anderson (Zimmerman kick), 1:09.
Team Statistics
First downs: Holmen 7; Marshfield 18.
Rushing (att-yards): Holmen 31-108; Marshfield 38-334.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Holmen 4-13-96-3; Marshfield 10-20-143-1.
Penalties (No.-yards): Holmen 3-15; Marshfield 10-93.
Fumbles (total-lost): Holmen 5-2; Marshfield 1-1.
Punting (No.-avg.): Holmen 2-30.5; Marshfield 1-27.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: H, Zac Watson 5-43, Ryan Weber 9-35, Austin Feuerhelm 5-31, Zane Finucane 1-8, Zeik Hellerud 4-7, Tyler Anderson 7-minus 5, Greg Rooney 1-minus 11. M, Riley Gebelein 19-165, Caleb Alexander 5-80, Bo Howard 3-20, Tanner Dennis-Brown 1-19, Luke Mahoney 1-18, Jeffrey Allison 3-15, Jaylan Moore 2-9, Carsten Lovstad 2-5, Caleb Cline 1-4, Derek Coffren 1-minus 1.
Passing: H, Anderson 4-12-96-2, Watson 0-1-0-1. M, Howard 8-18-120-1, Dennis-Brown 1-1-12-0, Colton Zahradka 1-1-11-0.
Receiving: H, Rooney 3-75, Chris Magnuson 1-21. M, Dennis-Brown 3-56, Kane Seubert 2-28, Ryan Trierweiler 2-22, Cline 1-14, Howard 1-12, Luke Wirtz 1-11.
Interceptions (defense): H, Watson. M, Tanner Happe, Brandon Baltus, Mack Scheppler.
Fumble recoveries: H, Jack Anderholm. M, Noah Sconzert, Mitch Zillman.
Punting: H, Rooney 1-33, Zane Finucane 1-28. M, Craig Zalzniak 1-27.
Records: Holmen 7-3; Marshfield 9-1.
Be the first to comment