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Commentary
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
The Marshfield football team stands on the doorstep of playing an unexpected game in Madison next week.
October began with the Tigers leading Merrill for nearly the entire game only to see the Bluejays put together a scoring drive to steal a 15-10 victory with a touchdown in the final minute of Marshfield’s homecoming game. The loss left Marshfield with a 3-3 record and a 2-2 mark in the Wisconsin Valley Conference with two games remaining.
Marshfield’s streak of reaching the playoffs in 14 straight seasons was in jeopardy and first-year coach Denny Goettl was left with a daunting task to get the Tigers energized for two must-wins. It was do-or-die time in the Tigers’ season.
“It’s another learning experience,” Goettl said after the loss to Merrill. “We’re doing good things, we’re moving the football and all of a sudden you pull out a gun and shoot yourself in the foot. We’ll keep getting better, we’ve got to. We have to be positive about the whole experience and keep the kids positive because if they drop their heads a little bit, it can all go down the tubes real fast.”
Somehow, things quickly changed. Marshfield smashed Wausau East 46-9 and had a thrilling comeback of its own, knocking off then first-place Wisconsin Rapids 32-31with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Three playoff victories later and the Tigers (8-3) find themselves playing in the WIAA Division 2 state semifinals Saturday against Cedarburg (11-1) at Appleton North High School. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
What could have turned into a disastrous season has now become a shining moment in the history of the Marshfield football program.
During this run of 15 straight playoff appearances, Marshfield will be playing in the “Final Four” for the seventh time, nearly a 50 percent clip. This is coming from a program that prior to Len Luedtke being named head coach in 1995 had eight winning seasons in 62 years.
In his first season as the head coach, Goettl wasn’t going to let the season get away from him. The players weren’t about to either.
“It’s neat seeing kids that can rise up to the challenge. You want to be a team that is expected to win,” Goettl said prior to last week’s game against Menomonie. “We kind of push that at Marshfield with the tradition that we’ve built, from everything Len (Luedtke) had done as coach and hopefully continues with myself and our staff. We expect the kids to be trying their hardest and not having excuses for anything.”
A sixth trip to the WIAA state finals for Marshfield is there for the taking. A tough Cedarburg team awaits and if the Tigers win Saturday, they will definitely deserve the trip to Madison.
The adversity this team has fought through, with all the injuries to key defensive starters and team leaders, with the mediocre 3-3 start, with a change to a full-time quarterback and highlighting its passing attack, Marshfield’s coaching staff and players have made sure this season is another one to remember. Win or lose on Saturday, they have accomplished that.
Paul Lecker is the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com. He can be reached by e-mail at paul@marshfieldareasports.com.