This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – After having conference games cancelled when teams couldn’t any longer field teams, Marshfield and Grantsburg found themselves on the same field Friday night in Marshfield, although the teams are separated by four divisions.
The end result was a 52-0 win by the Tigers, ranked No. 10 in this week’s Wissports.net Division 2 State Coaches Poll, over Grantsburg, a Division 6 program.
Marshfield put the first points on the board when quarterback Trevor Fommel went 22 yards for a touchdown, capping a 14-play drive at the 5:22 mark of the first quarter.
Grantsburg, seemingly unfazed, put on a 14-play drive of its own before bogging down at the Tigers’ 10.
Marshfield turned that around in a hurry going 90 yards in just seven plays when Garrett Willuweit crashed in from the 1 for a 12-0 lead.
Still undeterred, the Pirates ran off 10 more plays to get into Marshfield territory before turning it over. From there, the floodgates opened as Foemmel went to his arm instead of his legs.
Foemmel, a junior, hit Gavin Fravert with a 19-yard bullet at the 3:49 mark of the second quarter to extend the lead to 19-0.
After outside linebacker Camren Dennee recovered a fumble on Grantsburg’s second play of its drive, Fommel wasted little time finding Carson Kvernen in the left-hand corner of the end zone. Backup quarterback Cody Donahue added a 1-yard touchdown run in the closing seconds and Marshfield led 36-0 at the half.
Marshfield coach Denny Goettl had good things to say about his team and his quarterback, but also his opponent.
“They (Grantsburg) showed more formations than we’ve seen from a lot of teams,” said Goettl. “We obviously didn’t want to give up anything big. They had some nice plays when they were fresh. That’s a good football team.”
Being fresh was one thing. Going up against a Division 2 team from an established football conference, quite another.
The Pirates ran just 10 plays in the second half with many players playing both ways.
In the meantime, the Tigers turned the game into a running clock situation by being up by 35 when junior kicker Braxton Kurth drilled a 28-yard field for the Tigers’ only points of the third quarter and a 36-0 lead.
Marshfield concluded the scoring with a pair of rushing touchdowns by Donny Carolfi and Eli Colby. Vaughn Kolbeck chipped in with a safety.
“We had a pretty good first drive that ate some clock and set the tone,” Goettl said. “Our QB did some things well. He’s had his growing pains. We had a nice boot pass early. He’s real hard on himself but he’s growing up, a young kid, making strides. He’s a runner, which is hard on defenses, but we need to make that runner into a thrower as well. Got to give him his credit. Cool kid. He wants to learn but needs to quit being so hard on himself.”
Both teams return to conference play next week when the Tigers (2-1) travel to D.C. Everest and Grantsburg (1-3) go to Ladysmith.
Tigers 52, Pirates 0
Grantsburg 0 0 0 0 – 0
Marshfield 6 27 3 16 – 52
First Quarter
M – Trevor Foemmel 22 run (pass failed), 5:22.
Second Quarter
M – Garrett Willuweit 1 run (run failed), 9:32.
M – Gavin Fravert 19 pass from Foemmel (Braxton Kurth kick), 3:49.
M – Carson Kvernen 16 pass from Foemmel (Kurth kick), 2:52.
M – Cody Donahue 1 run (Kurth kick), 0:08.
Third Quarter
M – Kurth 28 field goal, 4:58.
Fourth Quarter
M – Donny Carolfi 5 run (Kurth kick), 8:03.
M – Safety, Vaughn Kolbeck, 4:25.
M – Eli Colby 9 run (Kurth kick), 1:45.
Team Statistics
First downs: Grantsburg 6; Marshfield 18.
Rushing (att.-yards): G 19-37; M 38-281.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int.): G 4-15-0-49; M 6-11-0-86.
Total yards: G 86; M 367
Fumbles (total-lost): G 1-1; M 2-0.
Penalties (no.-yards): G 4-20; M 3-25.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: G, Isaac Quimby 4-20, Trenton Johnson 4-11, Silas Prusinski 7-3, Aidan Burkman 2-2, Aaron Burkman 2-1. M, Matthew Trulen 7-67, Garrett Willuwiet 10-58, Trevor Foemmel 3-56, Jeff Marsh 7-36, Eli Colby 4-23, Cody Donahue 3-16.
Passing: G, Aa. Burkman 4-13-0-49. M, Foemmel 5-8-0-84, Donahue 1-2-0-2, Brant Freis 0-1-0-0.
Receiving: G, Zach Miller 2-25, Johnson 2-24. M, Fravert 3-42, Trulen 1-26, Kvernen 1-16, Mitchell Schade 1-2.
Fumble recoveries (defense): M, Camren Denee.
Records: Grantsburg 1-3; Marshfield 2-1.