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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield and D.C. Everest are not in the same conference anymore for football, playing in opposite divisions of the Valley Football Association, but their rivalry on the gridiron lives on.
Friday night, in the season opener for both teams, the lead changed hands six times and the outcome wasn’t decided until the final play, with Marshfield finally escaping with a thrilling 34-30 win over the Evergreens at Beell Stadium.
Wide receiver Ryan Trierweiler was pushed into duty as a tailback after injuries derailed Riley Gebelein (on a kickoff in the opening minute) and backup Keiron Howlett (in the fourth quarter) and scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown on a 3-yard run with 4:23 remaining.
After each team exchanged punts, Everest took over at the 50-yard line with 1:29 to go. A pass interference and a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty were called on Marshfield on the first play, pushing the ball down to the 20.
After a pair of runs got the ball to the 9, Marshfield’s defense held. Ross Zillman had a sack and Eric Schwan threw incomplete passes in the end zone. The final attempt was tipped away by defensive back Mack Scheppler as time expired.
“I’m really proud of the kids,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said. “the second-stringers and back-up guys all jumped in and played and were always right there. It’s all about the one-play-away guys, that’s what I call them. They all stepped up.”
Bo Howard, making his first start at quarterback, rushed for 136 yards on just 10 carries and had touchdown runs of 26 and 57 yards, and threw for 63 yards and another score – an 18-yarder to Tanner Dennis-Brown in the first quarter that gave the Tigers in the lead after falling behind early – really early.
Chris Maki returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to give Everest a 7-0 lead.
Marshfield then lost its starting running back in Gebelein on the ensuing kickoff, but responded with a nine-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a Howard run for a 26-yard touchdown on fourth-and-2.
Marshfield’s next possession ended with the touchdown pass to Brown and the Tigers led 14-7 after one quarter.
“Early in the game, I had a lot of butterflies, but as the game went on the line blocked really well and throughout the game it got better and better,” Howard said. “Keiron stepped in and ran the ball hard. We actually only ran two different running plays with me, but both of them were getting positive yards.”
Everest cut the Tigers’ lead to 14-13 after Alex Altergott caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Schwan, but the Evergreens botched the extra point attempt.
After a Marshfield punt, one of those backups Goettl was speaking of – junior defensive back Matt Rickman – picked off a Schwan pass on the sideline and ran 37 yards for a touchdown as the Tigers took a 21-13 lead into halftime.
Everest got two points back when Marshfield snapped the ball over the punter’s head and out of the end zone for a safety 1:42 into the third quarter.
The Evergreens took over on the 44 after the kickoff and took just six plays to score a go-ahead touchdown – a 20-yard run by Wyatt Brown – and Everest led 22-21.
Howlett racked up 57 of his 91 yards in the third quarter before Howard scampered 57 yards for a score on a broken play to put Marshfield back up 27-22 heading into the fourth. Everest regained the lead again when Brown capped a 54-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run with 8:13 to go.
Marshfield responded with a 10-play, 54-yard drive of its own to take the lead with 4:23 left. Howard had a 10-yard pass to Dennis-Brown and three rushes for 18 yards on the drive.
“Bo shined, he led really well,” Goettl said. “He had some over-thrown balls, but we’ll work on those things, but he led the team, led the troops well, ran like he had to run when he had to run.”
Tigers 34, Evergreens 30
D.C. Everest 7 6 9 8 – 30
Marshfield 14 7 6 7 – 34
First quarter
DC – Chris Maki 90 kickoff return (Cory Marquardt kick), 11:49.
M – Bo Howard 26 run (Nathan Borchardt kick), 8:09.
M – Tanner Dennis-Brown 18 pass from Howard (Borchardt kick), 2:00.
Second quarter
DC – Alex Altergott 5 pass from Eric Schwan (PAT failed), 3:33.
M – Matt Rickman 37 interception return (Borchardt kick), 1:08.
Third quarter
DC – Safety, Marshfield snap out of end zone, 10:18.
DC – Wyatt Brown 20 run (Marquardt kick), 7:40.
M – Howard 57 run (pass failed), 2:51.
Fourth quarter
DC – Brown 3 run (Schwan run), 8:13.
M – Ryan Trierweiler 3 run (Borchardt kick), 4:23.
Team statistics
First downs: D.C. Everest 13; Marshfield 12.
Rushing (attempts-yards): D.C. Everest 39-148; Marshfield 37-253.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): D.C. Everest 8-18-79-1; Marshfield 6-19-63-2.
Penalties (No.-yards): D.C. Everest 6-40; Marshfield 7-74.
Fumbles (total-lost): D.C. Everest 3-1; Marshfield 3-0.
Punting (No.-avg.): D.C. Everest 5-38.6; Marshfield 4-27.5.
Individual statistics
Rushing: DC, Wyatt Brown 11-66, Nick Sierakowski 11-59, Chris Maki 9-18, Alec Salzman 3-18, Alex Altergott 1-1, Eric Schwan 4-minus 14. M, Bo Howard 10-136, Keiron Howlett 18-91, Ryan Trierweiler 6-30, Luke Mahoney 1-6, Team 1-minus 10.
Passing: DC, Schwan 8-18-79-1. M, Howard 6-19-63-2.
Receiving: DC, Maki 3-32, Altergott 2-12, Brown 1-11, Max Osswald 1-6, Sierakowski 1-18. M, Tanner Dennis-Brown 4-46, Trierweiler 2-17.
Interceptions: DC, Dylan Gusman, Brady Borrell. M, Matt Rickman.
Fumble recoveries (defense): M, Craig Serchen.
Punting: DC, Kyle Kurtenbach 5-38.6. M, Howard 2-29.0; Craig Zalizniak 2-26.0.
Records: D.C. Everest 0-1; Marshfield 1-0.