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MarshfieldAreaSports.com
ANTIGO – It took a week longer than he would have liked, but Marshfield head coach Denny Goettl earned his first win as the new Tigers coach on Friday.
T.J. Vantassel ran for 163 yards and a touchdown, and Brad Dolezal scored three times to lead the Marshfield football team to a 28-18 nonconference road win over Antigo at Schofield Stadium.
A week after turning the ball over five times in a loss to Menomonie, Marshfield committed four turnovers on Friday, but were able to survive as the Tigers piled up 325 yards, including 204 on the ground.
Leading 21-18, Marshfield’s Sully Luepke intercepted a pass from Antigo quarterback Ivan Flannery with 4:59 to play and the Tigers drove 64 yards on seven plays to put the game away as Vantassel scored from 30 yards out.
“It feels, not like a monkey is off my back, but a little monkey is off my back,” Goettl said. “We don’t have to get everything is done all at once. We got the first one. We’ve got to work on the turnover battle. It’s just a matter of making some little adjustments.”
Antigo took a 6-0 lead less than 3 minutes into the game when Flannery connected with running back Nico Folsum on a 22-yard scoring pass.
Marshfield bounced back with a pair of scores before the end of the first quarter. Dolezal ran in from 3 yards and 1 yard, and Gus Utecht connected on extra points after both, to give the Tigers a 14-6 lead.
Dolezal scored again on a 9-yard run in the second quarter, but Antigo responded just before halftime when Julian Basuke scored with 50 seconds to go, making it 21-12 at halftime.
Antigo made it close when it scored on its first possession of the second half. Jed Mattmiller, who ran for a team-high 113 yards, scored on a 35-yard scamper just 1:50 into the third quarter, cutting the Tigers lead to 21-18 after the Red Robins missed on their third point-after-touchdown attempt.
The score remained that way until the fourth quarter. With Antigo driving, Luepke came up with the big interception and the Tigers ran the ball seven consecutive times before Vantassel broke free for a 30-yard touchdown.
“We kind of almost were trying to give it away there at the end, but the defense came away with a big play,” Goettle said. “The defensive line played tremendous, and the linebackers did too.”
Marshfield opens Wisconsin Valley Conference play against defending conference champion Stevens Point. The game at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Goerke Field next Friday starts at 7 p.m. Point dropped a nonconference matchup to Kenosha Bradford on Friday, 48-17.
Tigers 28, Red Robins 18
Marshfield 14 7 0 7 – 28
Antigo 6 6 6 0 – 18
First quarter
A, Nico Folsum 22 pass from Ivan Flannery (kick missed) 9:43.
M, Brad Dolezal 3 run (Gus Utech kick), 5:41.
M, Doelzal 1 run (Utech kick), 1:02.
Second quarter
M, Dolezal 9 run (Utech kick), 3:16
A, Julian Basuke 4 run (run failed), :50.
Third quarter
A, Jed Mattmiler 35 run (kick failed), 10:10.
Fourth quarter
M, Vantassel 30 run (Utech kick), 2:50.
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: Marshfield 16, Antigo 19.
Rushing (att-yards): Marshfield 37-204, Antigo 57-293.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Marshfield 8-21-121-2, Antigo 4-21-60-1.
Penalties: Marshfield 5-40, Antigo 7-61.
Fumbles (total-lost): Marshfield 5-2, Antigo 3-1.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Marshfield, T.J. Vantassel 26-167, Brad Dolezal 5-36, Jeremy Robinson 1-1, Elliot Ashbeck 3-2, Chris Stemen 2-0, Team 1-minus 2. Antigo: Jed Mattmiller 18-113, Nico Folsum 14-96.
Passing: Marshfield, Ashbeck 1-9-16-2, Stemen 7-12-105. Antigo: Ivan Flannery 4-21-60-1.
Receiving: Marshfield, Ian Padron 2-41, Jake Lisecki 2-23, Austin Littman 1-17, Vantassel 1-12, Payton Marshall 2-28. Antigo: Folsum 1-22.
Records: Marshfield 1-1; Antigo 1-1.
Click here to view the Wisconsin Valley Conference football standings.