This story is sponsored by Victory Apparel
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield never could maintain an offensive attack and Kaukauna used three long touchdown runs from Hank Hofmann to down the Tigers 35-7 in a Valley Football Association crossover game on Friday night at Heiting Community Stadium.
The Tigers (1-3 overall and VFA West) were held to 190 yards, and although they crossed midfield five times, they mustered just one score, that coming on the second play of the fourth quarter. Marshfield also had three turnovers in the loss.
By that point, Marshfield was down 21-0 thanks to Hofmann.
The speedy Kaukauna running back had a pair of 67-yard touchdown runs in the first half, and scored on a 68-yard run near the end of the third quarter to give the Ghosts (4-0, 3-0 VFA North) a commanding lead.
Hofmann finished with 283 yards on 17 carries, 204 of which came on the three TD runs.
Those three plays totaled more yards than Marshfield had all night. Despite moving the ball on a couple of occasions, and three long kick returns from Sam Hinson, the Tigers’ offense was unable to crack the Kaukauna defense.
“It’s what we are, it’s what we’ve got,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said of the offense. “We had our right tackle out, the left guard came out. We’re young. We have some 130-pound running backs and not a very big line. It’s a tough thing going right now. We thought we were moving forward last week, and this week we took a step back.”
Following Hofmann’s third touchdown run, Hinson returned the ensuing kickoff near midfield.
Four plays later, on the second play of the fourth quarter, quarterback Joey Goettl hit Wyatt LeMoine for a 28-yard touchdown pass to put the Tigers on the scoreboard.
Kaukauna missed a field goal on its next possession, but Marshfield was unable to do anything with it, turning the ball over on downs at its own 30 following a fourth-down sack.
Three plays later, Kaukauna quarterback Noah Van Asten connected with Carson Sippel across the middle and Sippel took it 26 yards for a touchdown, effectively ending any comeback attempt from the Tigers with 4:34 to go in the game.
Sam Schuhart picked off a Marshfield pass and returned it 30 yards for the final score of the game with 2:02 left.
“We’ve got to start clawing now and get things going,” Coach Goettl said. “We’ve got to score some touchdowns.”
Marshfield plays at Stevens Point next Friday, Sept. 20, at 5 p.m. at Goerke Field on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus. The game will be broadcast on WDLB-AM 1450 and wdlbwosq.com, and live-streamed at zaleskisports.com/live-sports. The Tigers will have to win three of their next four VFA games in order to be in consideration for a WIAA playoff berth.
Ghosts 35, Tigers 7
Kaukauna 7 7 7 14 – 35
Marshfield 0 0 0 7 – 7
First Quarter
K – Hank Hofmann 67 run (Kyle Seefeldt kick), 6:40.
Second Quarter
K – Hofmann 67 run (Seefeldt kick), 2:52.
Third Quarter
K – Hofmann 68 run (Seefeldt kick), 1:55.
Fourth Quarter
M – Wyatt LeMoine 28 pass from Joey Goettl (Kyle Tremelling kick), 11:13.
K – Carson Sippel 26 pass from Noah Van Asten (Seefeldt kick), 4:34.
K – Sam Schuhart 30 interception return (Seefeldt kick), 2:02.
Team Statistics
First downs: Kaukauna 6; Marshfield 11.
Rushing (att.-yards): K 23-288; M 44-112.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): K 8-15-87-2; M 7-21-78-2.
Total yards: K 375; M 190.
Penalties (no.-yards): K 4-30; M 3-21.
Fumbles (total-lost): K none; M 3-1.
Punting (no.-avg.): K 3-27.7; M 4-28.5.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: K, Hank Hofmann 17-283, Hunter Natrop 4-7, Noah Van Asten 2-minus 2. M, Sam Hinson 8-51, Joey Goettl 13-20, Logan Durham 9-19, Noah Schaefer 5-18, No. 85 (no name provided) 1-3, No. 84 (no name provided) 2-1, Bradley Dickinson 2-1, Will Fetting 1-minus 1.
Passing: K, Van Asten 8-15-87-2. M, Goettl 6-20-78-2, Fetting 0-1-0-1.
Receiving: K, Charlie Weber 4-47, Carson Sippel 1-26, Austin Miller 1-8, Hofmann 1-3, Dominic Giordana 1-3. M, Wyatt LeMoine 3-52, Simon Slade 2-21, Hinson 1-5.
Interceptions (defense): K, Sam Schuhart, Matthew Bartel, Jacob Van Zeeland. M, Goettl, Brayden Richardson.
Fumble recoveries (defense): K, Tommy Tetzlaff.
Punting: K, Kyle Springstroh 3-27.7. M, Kyle Tremelling 4-28.5.
Records: Kaukauna 4-0, 3-0 Valley Football Association North Division; Marshfield 1-3, 1-3 Valley Football Association West Division.