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MarshfieldAreaSports.com
OSHKOSH – Oshkosh North denied Marshfield its chance at a second-straight season of sharing the Valley Football Association South Division title with a 24-13 win over the Tigers on Friday night at Titan Stadium.
North (9-0, 7-0 VFA South) clinched the outright championship with the victory and sends Marshfield (6-3, 5-2 VFA South) to its second loss in its last three games.
Marshfield will play at Menomonie in a WIAA Division 2 Level 1 game Friday at 7 p.m. at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Oshkosh North scored on the second play of the second quarter and added another score just before halftime to grab a 14-0 lead.
Cooper Radtke hauled in a 58-yard touchdown pass from Nate Neveau early in the quarter after both teams failed to score in the first quarter.
Neveau added a 1-yard touchdown run with just 27 seconds left in the half to put the Spartans up 14-0 at the break.
Marshfield finally broke into the scoring column, taking the opening possession of the third quarter in for a score.
A 40-yard run by Thomas Gisvold set up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Luke Zuiker to fullback Travis Lutz. The extra point kick was missed, leaving the Tigers behind 14-6.
Marshfield hit a big play later in the quarter to pull to within a point. After North missed a field goal, Zuiker connected with Jeffrey Allison on an 80-yard pass to make it 14-13 with 1:45 left in the quarter.
North wasted little time widening the margin when Neveau hit Radtke again, this time for a 55-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Geisthardt added a 38-yard field goal later in the fourth and Marshfield threw a pair of interceptions deep inside North territory in the final 5 minutes as the Tigers scrambled to get back in the game.
Marshfield played without leading rusher Keiron Howlett, who was out with an injury. Caleb Alexander stepped in and ran for 98 yards on 16 carries.
Spartans 24, Tigers 13
Marshfield 0 0 13 0 – 13
Oshkosh North 0 14 0 10 – 24
Second Quarter
ON – Cooper Radtke 58 pass from Nate Neveau (Turner Geisthardt kick), 11:22.
ON – Neveau 1 run (Geisthardt kick), 0:27.
Third Quarter
M – Travis Lutz 6 pass from Luke Zuiker (kick missed), 9:08.
M – Jeffrey Allison 80 pass from Zuiker (Andy Riesterer kick), 1:45.
Fourth Quarter
ON – Radtke 55 pass from Neveau (Geisthardt kick), 11:50.
ON – Geisthardt 38 field goal, 7:10.
Team Statistics
First downs: Marshfield 9; Oshkosh North 9.
Rushing (att-yards): Marshfield 23-131; Oshkosh North 38-143.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Marshfield 8-19-207-3; Oshkosh North 6-11-186-0.
Penalties (total-yards): Marshfield 1-5; Oshkosh North 2-15.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: M, Caleb Alexander 16-98, Thomas Gisvold 2-39, Jeffrey Allison 1-12, Luke Zuiker 2-minus 6, Colton Zahradka 3-minus 12. ON, Alex Hintze 19-69, Nate Neveau 13-44, Robert Phillips 5-28, Dong Hoon Im 1-2.
Passing: M, Zuiker 5-12-153-1, Zahradka 3-7-31-2. ON, Neveau 6-11-186-0.
Receiving: M, Allison 3-137, Alex Strege 2-20, Alexander 1-12, Jace Krasselt 1-9, Travis Lutz 1-6. ON, Cooper Radtke 3-119, Cameron Parrish 2-57, Turner Geisthardt 1-11.
Records: Marshfield 6-3, 5-2 Valley Football Association South; Oshkosh North 9-0, 7-0 VFA South.