Click here to see video of Tyson Slade’s touchdown pass to Zach McManus late in the fourth quarter
This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield football team has been a group of fighters all season, and Friday’s game against Wisconsin Rapids was no different.
The Tigers overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to take a one-point lead late, but in the end the Wisconsin Rapids running game was just too tough to overcame and the Raiders prevailed with a 42-35 victory in a Valley Football Association South Division game at Beell Stadium.
Zach McManus hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Tyson Slade with 2:44 remaining to put the Tigers up 35-34 only to see Rapids march down the field.
Quarterback Ben Olson ran four times for 30 yards, including a 6-yard scoring run with 1:13 to go to lift the Raiders to the victory.
Wisconsin Rapids is now 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the VFA South, while Marshfield drops to 3-2 and 2-2 in the conference.
“We’re going to be a battling team,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said. “There were some things we were exposed to that we need to work on. We have to work on that option team. It maybe is easy to defend the passing teams because you know what they are going to do all of the time, but with an option team there is a lot going on.
“Our guys battled. It’s what we are going to do and all we can do. You can’t lose faith, can’t lose hope. We have to keep playing.”
Rapids racked up 508 yards rushing on 60 carries, controlling the ball for much of the game. Olson led the way with 176 yards rushing on 21 carries, Isaac Pelot added 117 yards and Austin Glinski had 98 on just five carries for the Raiders.
Marshfield senior Nick Hoheisel had his third 200-yard rushing game of the season, finishing with 235 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns. Hoheisel now has 1,049 yards and 12 TDs rushing in just five games this season.
“We have some schemes that we want to run against certain defenses and it works pretty well,” Goettl said.
Rapids scored on its first play from scrimmage as Glinski turned the right corner for a 51-yard touchdown run 1:31 into the game.
The Tigers struck back with an 11-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a Hoheisel touchdown from the 1.
Rapids regained the lead on its next drive as Olson scored on an 11-yard run and pushed the lead to 19-7 on an impressive 17-play, 71-yard drive that chewed up the final 1:30 of the first quarter and first 5:40 of the second. It ended when Olson hit Derek Krzykowski for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
Marshfield struck quick on its first possession of the second half as Hoheisel had a 41-yard run and a 20-yard TD run.
Rapids upped its lead to 34-14 after a 36-yard touchdown run by Thomas Grube and a 64-yard TD run by Olson only to see the Tigers claw their way back in the game.
McManus caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Slade in the final minute of the third quarter and Hoheisel sprinted for a 75-yard touchdown midway through the fourth to close the gap to 34-28.
Chris Collins stripped Olson of the ball at the Rapids 28 and two plays after Slade hit Jon Hardinger for a 13-yard pass on fourth-and-8, McManus caught his second touchdown of the game to put the Tigers on top.
It was short-lived, however, as the Raiders marched down the field against a depleted Marshfield defense that has been stung by the injury bug.
Olson had runs of 9 and 11 yards, and Glinski had a 23-yard run to key the drive that ended when Olson dove in on the right sideline for the winning score with 1:13 left.
Slade was intercepted by Cody Kiedrowski near midfield with 25 seconds left to end it.
Marshfield hosts Hortonville (4-1, 3-1 VFA South) next Friday, Sept. 25, at Beell Stadium. The game starts at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com, with pregame starting at 6:30 p.m. Hortonville blanked Oshkosh West 34-0 on Friday.
“We have to win two more (to get in the playoffs),” Goettl said. “We have to win the next two.”
Raiders 42, Tigers 35
Wisconsin Rapids 13 6 15 8 – 42
Marshfield 7 0 14 14 – 35
First Quarter
WR – Austin Glinski 51 run (Nathan Hepp kick), 10:29.
M – Nick Hoheisel 1 run (Zach McManus kick), 5:52.
WR – Ben Olson 11 run (kick missed), 3:07.
Second Quarter
WR – Derek Krzykowski 4 pass from Olson (kick missed), 6:20.
Third Quarter
M – Hoheisel 20 run (McManus kick), 8:56.
WR – Thomas Grube 36 run (Glinski run), 6:43.
WR – Olson 64 run (Hepp kick), 5:08.
M – McManus 4 pass from Tyson Slade (McManus kick), 0:47.
Fourth Quarter
M – Hoheisel 75 run (McManus kick), 6:01.
M – McManus 11 pass from Slade (McManus kick), 2:44.
WR – Olson 6 run (Grube run), 1:13.
Team Statistics
First downs: Rapids 17; Marshfield 11.
Rushing (att-yards): Rapids 60-508; Marshfield 34-255.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Rapids 2-6-11-0; Marshfield 11-23-125-1.
Penalties (no.-yards): Rapids 3-18; Marshfield 6-44.
Fumbles (total-lost): Rapids 5-2; Marshfield 1-0.
Punting (no.-avg.): Rapids 2-40.5; Marshfield 3-35.3.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: WR, Ben Olson 21-176, Isaac Pelot 17-117, Austin Glinski 5-98, Thomas Grube 4-74, Michael Moon 9-33, Tristan Iverson 4-10. M, Nick Hoheisel 26-235, Jon Hardinger 1-11, Tyson Slade 6-9, Andy Goettl 1-0.
Passing: WR, Olson 2-6-11-0. M, Slade 11-23-125-1.
Receiving: WR, Isaiah Westfall 1-7, Derek Krzykowski 1-4. M, Zach McManus 5-49, Hardinger 2-45, Hoheisel 2-1, Braden Bohman 1-20, Isaac Huettl 1-10.
Interceptions (defense): WR, Cody Kiedrowski.
Fumble recoveries (defense): M, Chris Collins, Zach Haupt.
Punting: WR, Dylan Ashbeck 2-40.5. M, McManus 3-35.3.
Records: Wisconsin Rapids 3-2, 2-2 Valley Football Association South Division; Marshfield 3-2, 2-2 Valley Football Association.