This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – A lack of offensive production in the first half led to the Marshfield football team digging too big of a hole to get out of.
Appleton West held the Tigers to 41 yards and just two first downs in the first half as it built a 17-0 lead and held on in the second half to knock off Marshfield 27-16 in a Valley Football Association contest Friday night at Beell Stadium.
West quarterback Alec Goffard ran for 116 yards and a touchdown in the first half, and running back Patrick Ourada added 63 yards on the ground and another score to help the Terrors (1-1 overall and VFA North) take a 17-0 lead by halftime.
Marshfield, which put up 38 points in its season-opener against Oshkosh West last week, was stymied again and again by a stout West defense that allowed only one play for more than 9 yards in the first half and held the Tigers to minus-5 yards passing on four completions.
“(Appleton West) wasn’t the team we played last week,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said. “They were well-versed and scouted (us). We’re going to face that all year now. We figured out some things in the second half to alleviate some of the stuff they were taking away. They have some good athletes over there. They’re corners and safeties were good, they didn’t respect us passing and their safeties were right up in our face.”
Marshfield (1-1, 0-1 VFA West) made a game of it in the third quarter, scoring on both of its possessions.
A 28-yard pass play from Ryan Krueger to Isaac Meverden and a 21-yard toss to Andy Goettl set up a 9-yard touchdown run by Brant Bohman. Isaiah Baierl ran in a two-point conversion to cut the Terrors’ lead to 17-8.
West responded with an eight-play, 73-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard touchdown run by Goffard, who finished with 176 yards rushing overall.
Marshfield came back with another impressive drive, going 60 yards in eight plays. Despite two false start penalties, the Tigers were able to find the end zone again. A 16-yard pass from Krueger to Meverden brought the Tigers to the 10 and two plays later Goettl ran in from the 3 for a touchdown. Krueger threw a two-point conversion to Bohman to make it a one-score game at 24-16 with 55 seconds to go in the third quarter.
“We got it figured out and Ryan got himself back on track in the second half,” Denny Goettl said. “We started moving the football again and when you hit some passes, it opens up things.”
West ripped off a long 14-play that chewed up more than 7 minutes on the clock and ended with an 18-yard field by Jack Porter to push the lead to 27-16.
Marshfield couldn’t get much going on its final two possessions, both ending on failed fourth-down plays, as Appleton West was able to hold on.
Ourada finished with 187 yards rushing in all, 124 coming in the second half as the Terrors were able to run out the clock.
Marshfield plays at Hortonville next Friday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com.
“We have to be prepared for everything now,” Denny Goettl said. “We go to the Hortonville and they beat these guys (West). It’s going to be a good battle. We’ll get after it, that’s all you can do.”
Terrors 27, Tigers 16
Appleton West 10 7 7 3 – 27
Marshfield 0 0 16 0 – 16
First Quarter
AW – Jack Porter 19 field goal, 2:03.
AW – Alec Goffard 10 run (Porter kick), 0:33.
Second Quarter
AW – Patrick Ourada 3 run (Porter kick), 6:21.
Third Quarter
M – Brant Bohman 9 run (Isaiah Baierl run), 6:53.
AW – Goffard 20 run (Porter kick), 4:08.
M – Andy Goettl 3 run (Bohman pass from Ryan Krueger), 0:55.
Fourth Quarter
AW – Porter 18 field goal, 5:42.
Team Statistics
First downs: Appleton West 17; Marshfield 10.
Rushing (att-yards): AW 54-369; MAR 33-132.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): AW 5-20-54-0; MAR 9-27-100-2.
Total yards: AW 413; MAR 232.
Penalties (no.-yards): AW 11-96; MAR 6-50.
Fumbles (total-lost): AW 1-0; MAR 2-1.
Punting (no.-avg.): AW 7-33.0; MAR 6-34.5.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: AW, Patrick Ourada 28-187, Alec Goffard 24-176, Luke Pauling 1-7. M, Ryan Krueger 7-48, Brant Bohman 10-33, Andy Goettl 9-28, Isaiah Baierl 5-16, Quinton Alexander 2-7.
Passing: AW, Goffard 5-17-54-0, Carson Hacker 0-3-0-0. M, Krueger 9-27-100-2.
Receiving: AW, Noah Garcia 1-16, Seth Kurkowski 1-15, Blake Pahlow 1-10, Ourada 1-4. M, Bohman 4-minus 5, Isaac Meverden 2-44, Baierl 1-23, Goettl 1-21, Mitch Wilhelm 1-17.
Interceptions (defense): AW, Kevin Pritzl, Garcia.
Fumble recoveries (defense): AW, Luke Pauling.
Punting: AW, Garcia 7-33.0. M, Krueger 6-34.5
Records: Appleton West 1-1 overall and Valley Football Association North; Marshfield 1-1 overall, 0-1 VFA West.