This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
Video highlights of the Tigers’ victory available at allmarshfield.com
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield football team had two choices – feel sorry for itself after a shellacking by Menasha a week ago, or take pride in the fact that it still had a chance to grab a share of a conference title in its final game of the season.
The Tigers did the latter on Friday, knocking off Stevens Point Area Senior High 42-28 in the teams’ regular-season finale at Beell Stadium.
With the win, Marshfield shares the Valley Football Association South Division title with SPASH with 6-1 records. It is the first conference title for Marshfield since winning the Wisconsin Valley Conference championship in 2002.
“My staff got cranked up,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said. “I made a decision on Monday we were going to go full pads. We got out there and did some scheme things and shored up our protections. Defensively, our coaches were cranking it up and everything they did, we were prepared for. Not only were we prepared, the kids did what they were supposed to do.
“I attribute a lot to our staff for getting the kids ready to go after getting your head beat in a little bit last week. The guys did well.”
The ability to still win a conference title, despite a 42-7 loss at Menasha last week, was enough to motivate the Tigers.
“The intensity was up all week, it was a great atmosphere at practice all week, and we really wanted to show what we can actually do,” senior running back Riley Gebelein said. “We wanted to show the team that we are and that we’re going to make a run in the playoffs.”
Keiron Howlett rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns and Gebelein added 111 yards rushing and two more scores as the Tigers ripped off 274 yards on the ground.
Marshfield moves on to the WIAA playoffs for the 17th straight season next week. The WIAA will announce the pairings on Saturday afternoon.
The hangover from last week’s loss at Menasha lasted through the first few minutes Friday. The Tigers fumbled the opening kickoff and four plays later Zach Pozorski scored on a 10-yard run to give SPASH a quick 6-0 lead.
After that, the Tigers took control of the game.
Marshfield drove 56 yards and Brad Krueger kicked a 29-yard field goal to get the Tigers on the scoreboard and after they stopped Stevens Point on fourth down at their own 25, Howlett spun out of three different tackles and scampered 75 yards for a touchdown to put them up 10-6.
The Tigers took advantage of a fumbled snap by Stevens Point quarterback Eric Zelhofer at the Marshfield 38. Six plays later, Bo Howard ran a quarterback keeper around the left side for an 8-yard touchdown with just 47 seconds to go before halftime, giving the Tigers a 17-6 lead.
The two teams exchanged touchdowns twice in the third quarter.
Zelhofer had touchdown passes of 16 and 32 yards to Pozorski, both on the same screen play to the left side, but each time Marshfield countered. Gebelein ran 25 yards for a touchdown following a 19-yard punt return by Daulton Varsho, and Howard hit Kane Seubert for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 1:08 left in the quarter to give Marshfield a 30-20 lead heading into the fourth.
Howlett ran 58 yards for his second long scoring play and Gebelein had a 10-yard run on fourth-and-1 with 1:03 remaining to put the game away and give the Tigers a 42-20 lead.
Stevens Point scored again with 33 seconds left on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Zelhofer to Nick Strigel. The touchdown came after a 62-yard kickoff return by Mitch Mallek.
Marshfield’s defense was able to thwart any comeback attempt by the Panthers with a pair of interceptions by Varsho and Matt Rickman in the fourth quarter.
Now, it’s on to the playoffs for the Tigers.
“It’s been 10 years (since a conference title), Coach (Goettl) talked about it all the time,” Gebelein said. “We came up a little short last year, lost it to Wisconsin Rapids, and we wanted to prove ourselves this year and we went out and did it.”
Tigers 42, Panthers 28
Stevens Point 6 0 14 8 – 28
Marshfield 10 7 13 12 – 42
First Quarter
SP – Zach Pozorski 10 run (kick missed), 9:53.
M – Brad Krueger 29 field goal, 6:41.
M – Keiron Howlett 75 run (Krueger kick), 3:02.
Second Quarter
M – Bo Howard 8 run (Krueger kick), 0:47.
Third Quarter
SP – Pozorski 16 pass from Eric Zelhofer (pass failed), 8:06.
M – Riley Gebelein 25 run (kick blocked), 5:47.
SP – Pozorski 32 pass from Zelhofer (Nick Strigel pass from Zelhofer), 3:52.
M – Kane Seubert 4 pass from Howard (Krueger kick), 1:08.
Fourth Quarter
M – Howlett 58 run (kick blocked), 10:11.
M – Gebelein 10 run (kick missed), 1:03.
SP – Strigel 2 pass from Zelhofer (Mitch Fuller pass from Zelhofer), 0:33.
Team Statistics
First downs: Stevens Point 10; Marshfield 5.
Rushing (att-yards): Stevens Point 35-109; Marshfield 38-274.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Stevens Point 14-25-165-2; Marshfield 6-9-58-0.
Penalties (No.-yards): Stevens Point 8-45; Marshfield 8-57.
Fumbles (total-lost): Stevens Point 3-2; Marshfield 3-3.
Punting (No.-avg.): Stevens Point 4-33.5; Marshfield 3-31.3.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SP, Zach Pozorski 25-80, Eric Zelhofer 9-25, Joey Flowerette 1-4. M, Keiron Howlett 10-170, Riley Gebelein 19-111, Caleb Cline 1-3, Ryan Trieweiler 1-minus 1, Bo Howard 7-minus 9.
Passing: SP, Zelhofer 14-25-165-2. M, Howard 6-9-58-0.
Receiving: SP, Scott Walder 5-71, Pozorski 3-48, Mitch Fuller 2-26, Flowerette 2-16, Nick Strigel 2-4. M, Kane Seubert 3-22, Kline 2-17, Trierweiler 1-19.
Fumble recoveries (defense): SP, Sean Van Helden, Mitch Mallek, Dom Thompson. M, Olin Boson, Ross Zillman.
Interceptions: SP, none. M, Daulton Varsho, Matt Rickman.
Punting: SP, Connor Ford 4-33.5. M, Howard 3-31.3.
Records: Stevens Point 7-1, 6-1 Valley Football Association South Division; Marshfield 7-1, 6-1 VFA South.