This story is sponsored by American Family Insurance/Randy Le Moine Agency LLC
Video highlights of the Tigers’ win at allmarshfield.com.
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Whether he ran left, right or up the middle, the Neenah defense had no answer for Marshfield senior running back Keiron Howlett.
Howlett ran 14 times for 226 yards and three touchdowns, leading Marshfield to a 42-14 win over Neenah in a Valley Football Association South Division game Friday night at Beell Stadium.
Marshfield (3-1, 2-0 VFA South) racked up 282 yards on the ground in all, and quarterbacks Luke Zuiker and Colton Zahradka combined for 112 yards passing, with Zuiker tossing a pair of touchdowns to Jeffrey Allison. The loss was Neenah’s first of the season as it falls to 3-1 and 1-1 in the conference.
Howlett had four runs of 20 yards or more, including runs of 46 and 38 yards in the second quarter that set up a pair of Marshfield touchdowns, and a 64-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter. He gave full credit to the Tigers’ offensive line.
“All offense is, is the line,” Howlett said. “I have to depend on them to make me better. The first game, we didn’t do that good. Right now we’re progressing and getting stronger as a team and a whole. It’s really good.”
Marshfield was held to 202 yards of offense in its season-opening loss to Wausau West, but since the Tigers have been rolling. Coach Denny Goettl said the move of Brad Schroeder from guard back to right tackle has made a big difference in the play of the line.
“We had a little line situation that first game, we tried to do some things and maybe we made a mistake playing Brad Schroeder at guard,” Goettl said. “We moved him back to tackle. He’s our big toe, he’s the leader of our line. We just didn’t execute Week 1. We’re making changes now and moving forward and things are going well for us.”
Howlett scored on a 5-yard run on Marshfield’s opening possession, which went 65 yards in 10 plays.
Howlett added an 11-yard touchdown run just before the end of the first quarter, which was set up by a fumbled punt by Neenah, and Caleb Alexander scored on a 6-yard run after Howlett ran 46 yards.
Neenah failed to get a first down the first three times it had the ball before finally putting together a long drove. The Rockets went 73 yards in 13 plays and Nathan Vandermause scored on a 2-yard run to cut the Tigers’ lead to 21-7.
Zuiker connected with Jeffrey Allison for a 25-yard touchdown on Marshfield’s ensuing possession to put the Tigers up 28-7 before Neenah put together another long drive, going 90 yards in 14 plays following an interception. Vandermause scored on a 3-yard run with 31 seconds left in the half, making it 28-14 at the break.
Howlett ran 64 yards on Marshfield’s first offensive play of the second half and the Tigers capped the scoring when Zuiker hit Allison again for a 34-yard score in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
“You give Keiron a little gap and he’s going to take it to the house,” Goettl said. “The running game is great. Our line is getting off the ball. On offense, it’s nice seeing our guys working together.”
Marshfield plays at Oshkosh West next Friday. The game is at 5 p.m. at Titan Stadium and will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com.
Tigers 42, Rockets 14
Neenah 0 14 0 0 – 14
Marshfield 14 14 7 7 – 42
First Quarter
M – Keiron Howlett 5 run (Brad Krueger kick), 7:51.
M – Howlett 11 run (Krueger kick), 0:57.
Second Quarter
M – Caleb Alexander 6 run (Krueger kick), 11:07.
N – Nathan Vandermause 2 run (Rob Schmidt kick), 6:29.
M – Jeffrey Allison 25 pass from Luke Zuiker (Krueger kick), 5:31.
N – Vandermause 3 run (Schmidt kick), 0:31.
Third Quarter
M – Howlett 64 run (Krueger kick), 10:07.
Fourth Quarter
M – Allison 36 pass from Zuiker (Krueger kick), 11:09.
Team Statistics
First downs: Neenah 14; Marshfield 11.
Rushing (att-yards): Neenah 48-125; Marshfield 37-282.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Neenah 9-24-183-0; Marshfield 7-14-112-1.
Penalties (no.-yards): Neenah 7-84; Marshfield 9-63.
Fumbles (total-lost): Neenah 4-2; Marshfield 5-1.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: N, Nathan Vandermause 28-79, Jake Resch 18-21, CJ VanDyke 1-18, Cole Joubert 1-5. M, Keiron Howlett 14-226, Jeffrey Allison 1-43, Caleb Alexander 10-34, Thomas Gisvold 4-7, Devin Zahradka 1-0, Derek Coffren 1-minus 3, Colton Zahradka 1-minus 3, Luke Zuiker 5-minus 22.
Passing: N, Resch 9-24-183-0. M, Zuiker 4-7-75-0, C. Zahradka 3-6-37-1.
Receiving: N, Taulvish 5-107, No. 8 1-30, Trevor Entwisle 1-24, No. 85 1-14, VanDyke 1-8. M, Allison 5-87, Jace Krasselt 1-16, Jack Donahue 1-9.
Interceptions (defense): N, Jacob Brazee.
Fumble recoveries (defense): N, Brazee. M, Tabor Ferris.
Punting: N, VanDyke 6-33.8. M, Craig Zalizniak 5-38.6.
Records: Neenah 3-1, 1-1 Valley Football Association South; Marshfield 3-1, 2-0 VFA South.