This story is sponsored by Total Electric
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
RIVER FALLS – River Falls’ ability to stay in short-distance situations on offense, and Marshfield’s inability to stop the Wildcats was the difference in a hard-fought WIAA Division 2 Level 2 football playoff game Friday night at Smith Stadium at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
River Falls was 7-for-13 on third downs, and if that wasn’t enough to sustain drives, the Wildcats converted all four of its fourth down attempts and went on to a 36-21 victory, ending Marshfield’s season.
River Falls (10-1), the top seed in its Division 2 bracket, will host No. 3 West De Pere (10-1) in a Level 3 matchup next Friday, Nov. 4, at UW-River Falls. Marshfield finishes the year at 7-4 after claiming a share of the Valley Football Association title.
The Wildcats used a grinding running game which saw running back Jonah Severson pile up 167 yards on 31 carries. Only four of those totes was for more than nine yards, but always seemed to be going forward, picking up three here, five there, to put River Falls in makeable short-distance situations on third and fourth downs.
River Falls put on a clinic on the opening drive of the game, going 80 yards in 17 plays, 14 on the ground. The Wildcats picked up two third down plays and two more on fourth down, chewing up the first 8:10 of the game before quarterback Jacob Range connected with Cade Myszewski for a 4-yard touchdown pass. The extra point kick was missed and River Falls led 6-0.
Marshfield responded with a long drive of its own, going 82 yards in seven plays as quarterback Trevor Foemmel ran 32 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Braxton Kurth’s extra point gave Marshfield a 7-6 lead.
River Falls converted a third-and-6 and a fourth-and-2 on its next drive and found the end zone again as Severson scored from the nine and the Wildcats led 12-7.
After each team punted, the only time Marshfield stopped River Falls in the first three quarters, Marshfield took over at its own 31 with 2:39 to go in the half.
Passes of 11 yards to Brooks Hinson and 18 yards to Sam Meverden, and an 11-yard run from Foemmel brought the Tigers into the red zone where he connected with Meverden on a misdirection pass to the left and the senior tight end cruised 14 yards into the end zone with just 28 seconds left in the half, giving Marshfield 14-12 lead going into the break.
Marshfield got the ball first in the second half and put it in the hands of Foemmel. The senior quarterback, who finished with a career-high 203 yards rushing in the game, ran the ball five out of the first six plays of the drive before hitting Luke LeMoine on a 19-yard pass in the end zone for a touchdown to put the Tigers up 21-12 with 8:43 to go in the third quarter.
That, however, was Marshfield’s last hurrah. The Wildcats put together three consecutive scoring drives, converting four third down attempts and another fourth down play along the way, to take control.
Range hit Jordan Karras for a 59-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field for a score and Severson ran in from the 5 after a 36-yard run by Karras on a reverse, giving the Wildcats a 28-21 lead after two two-point conversions.
The Wildcats opened up a two-touchdown lead on their first drive of the fourth quarter, which was helped by a pass interference call against Marshfield on a third-and-12 play. Severson scored his third touchdown from 9 yards out to make it 36-21 with 8:57 left.
Marshfield’s ensuing drive stalled at the 32 after back-to-back sacks, but the Tigers got a break when Range fumbled and Dawson Meissner recovered at the 35 with 3:48 to go, giving them one last breath of life.
The Tigers couldn’t do anything with it though, gaining just four yards on four plays before giving it back to River Falls, which was able to run off the final 2:19 of the contest.
Foemmel’s big night allowed him to finish with 1,090 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, and 20 touchdown passes, 11 to LeMoine.
Wildcats 36, Tigers 21
Marshfield 0 14 7 0 – 21
River Falls 6 6 16 8 – 36
First Quarter
RF – Cade Myszewski 4 pass from Jacob Range (kick missed), 3:50.
Second Quarter
M – Trevor Foemmel 32 run (Braxton Kurth kick), 11:53.
RF – Jonah Severson 9 run (run failed), 6:33.
M – Sam Meverden 14 pass from Foemmel (Kurth kick), 0:28.
Third Quarter
M – Luke LeMoine 19 pass from Foemmel (Kurth kick), 8:43.
RF – Jordan Karras 59 pass from Range (Karras run), 6:58.
RF – Severson 5 run (Karras pass from Severson), 2:03.
Fourth Quarter
RF – Severson 9 run (Severson run), 8:37.
Team Statistics
First downs: Marshfield 13; River Falls 15.
Rushing (att-yards): M 30-218; RF 45-276.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): M 7-12-89-0; RF 6-11-101-0.
Total yards: M 307; RF 377.
Fumbles (total-lost): M 1-0; RF 1-1.
Penalties (no.-yards): M 4-26; RF 12-98.
Punting (no.-avg.): M 2-17.0; RF 1-31.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: M, Trevor Foemmel 24-203, Jeff Marsh 4-11, Eli Colby 1-4, Braden Anderson 1-0. RF, Jonah Severson 31-167, Jacob Range 11-67, Jordan Karras 1-36, Wyatt Bell 2-6.
Passing: M, Foemmel 7-11-89-0, Evan Jakobi 0-1-0-0. RF, Range 6-11-101-0.
Receiving: M, Sam Meverden 3-41, Luke LeMoine 2-26, Brooks Hinson 1-11, Anderson 1-11. RF, Cade Myszewski 3-17, Karras 2-69, Cody Olson 1-15.
Fumble recoveries (defense): M, Dawson Meissner.
Records: Marshfield 7-4; River Falls 10-1.