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MarshfieldAreaSports.com
POYNETTE – The Stratford football team erased the bad memory of losing its playoff opener last year by destroying Poynette 35-13 in a WIAA Division 5 Level 1 playoff game Tuesday night at Poynette High School.
The Tigers, which had their streak of six straight WIAA state championships snapped with last year’s loss to Colby, dominated the Pumas throughout.
Stratford (8-2) moves on to a Level 2 game at Darlington (10-0) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Mark Marquardt led Stratford’s dominating rushing attack with 117 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Nick Viegut to wrap up the scoring in the fourth quarter.
Jamie Aschebrock added 73 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Austin Shelley had 48 yards and a score.
Stratford outgained Poynette 320-130, including 299-103 on the ground.
Shelley scored on a 5-yard run and Marquardt on a 1-yard plunge to give Stratford a 12-7 lead after the first quarter.
The Tigers added a touchdown in each of the three remaining quarters to pad their lead.
The Level 2 matchup pits what could be considered the team of the 2000s vs. the team of the 1990s in Wisconsin.
Darlington won Division 5 titles in 1990, 1991, and 1995, and lost in the Division 5 finals in 1993, 1994, and 1996 and in the Division 4 finals in 1997. Stratford won six straight Division 6 championships from 2003-2008.
Tigers 35, Pumas 13
Stratford 12 8 8 7 – 35
Poynette 7 0 0 6 – 13
First quarter
S – Austin Shelley 5 run (kick failed), 7:39.
S – Mark Marquardt 1 run (kick failed), 3:49.
P – Ada Odegaard 13 run (Adam Ray kick), 0:00.
Second quarter
S – Jamie Aschebrock 3 run (Marquardt run), 4:24.
Third quarter
S – Nick Viegut 1 run (Shelley run), 4:33.
Fourth quarter
S – Marquardt 9 pass from Viegut (Miller kick), 11:52.
P – Odegaard 70 punt return (kick failed), 5:49.
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: Stratford 19, Poynette 6.
Rushing (att-yards): Stratford 62-299, Poynette 24-103.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Stratford 2-3-21-0, Poynette 5-7-27-0.
Penalties: Stratford 3-25, Poynette 3-15.
Fumbles (total-lost): Stratford 1-1, Poynette 2-2.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: S, Mark Marquardt 18-117, Jamie Aschebrock 13-73, Austin Shelley 12-48, Nick Viegut 6-22, Josh Reif 3-15, Tyler Adams 2-12, Travis Urlaub 3-6, Sam Guyer 1-3, Joe Franklin 1-2, Derek Austin 1-minus 1. P, Ada Odegaard 2-35, Levi Champion 10-27, Adam Ray 10-26, Mike Koeppel 2-16.
Passing: S, Viegut 2-3-27-0. P, Ray 4-6-31-0, No. 4 (name not listed) 1-1-minus 4-0.
Receiving: S, Shelley 1-18, Marquardt 1-9. P, Austin Renz 1-13, Odegaard 1-9, Joe Neff 1-6, Jordan Branton 1-3, Ryan Murphy 1-minus 4.
Records: Stratford 8-2, Poynette 7-3.