This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield High School football program is coming off a Valley Football Association South Division title and a strong playoff run that left it one win short of reaching the state finals.
However, in the ever-changing landscape of high school football, that all means little now.
The Tigers lost five first-team all-VFA South athletes to graduation, so it is up to a new group of players to continue the strong Marshfield football tradition.
Marshfield has reached the WIAA playoffs in 17 straight seasons and will begin its quest for an 18th appearance in a row when it opens its season Friday, Aug. 23, at home against former conference rival Wausau West. The game starts at 7 p.m. at Beell Stadium and will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450.
“You want it to be right there are your fingertips already, but it’s not,” Marshfield coach Dennis Goettl said. “You have to go through the same thing year after year because the kids are brand new and it’s not the same team. It takes a long time to get people gelling to reach the game before the state championship game.
“We know what we have to do. We have to get the line to gel, we have to get the receivers to understand what we want them to do, and the quarterbacks to get down their reads. These two scrimmages (JV on Friday at Marathon and varsity Saturday at Black River Falls) are going to be really important to us.”
Quarterback is one spot where the Tigers have to find someone to step up.
Seniors Colton Zahradka and Luke Zuiker, and junior Derek Coffren are competing for the starting spot to replace the versatile Bo Howard, who threw for 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns, and ran for seven more scores.
“I think they all can do different things,” Goettl said. “We have to find somebody to get it to our receivers. We have five guys that are averaging over 6-foot, 3-inches tall, we have to running backs (Keiron Howlett and Caleb Alexander) that run a 4.6 (40-yard dash) – we have to find someone to get it to them.”
Defensively, the Tigers return the bulk of their backfield, including honorable mention safety Daulton Varsho. Defensive lineman Craig Serchen and linebacker Mitch Zillman also return after receiving all-VFA South honorable mention honors in 2012.
Zach Meissner joins Zillman at middle linebacker, with Mitch Ott and Serchen manning the defensive end spots. The secondary, perhaps, is Marshfield’s strong suit on defense.
“Our defensive secondary, with Daulton, Matt Oestreich, Matt Rickman and Cullen Bump at the other corner – we have a pretty solid defense,” Goettl said. “Right now, it’s just putting guys into place. We’ll see on Saturday how they react.”
Marshfield Football Schedule
| Sat., Aug. 17 | at Black River Falls (scrimmage) | 10 a.m. |
| Fri., Aug. 23 | WAUSAU WEST | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Aug. 30 | at Wausau East (Thom Field) | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Sept. 6 | FOND DU LAC | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Sept. 13 | NEENAH | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Sept. 20 | at Oshkosh West (Titan Stadium) | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Sept. 27 | WISCONSIN RAPIDS | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Oct. 4 | &MENASHA | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Oct. 11 | at Stevens Point (Goerke Field) | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Oct. 18 | at Oshkosh North (Titan Stadium) | 5 p.m. |
Home games in CAPS at Beell Stadium, Marshfield Middle School
&Homecoming