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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
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MARSHFIELD – Merrill quarterback and middle linebacker Sam Arneson showed on Friday why he will be playing college football in the Big Ten next year.
The 6-foot-4, 241-pound senior delivered a number of crushing blows on the defensive end, and with the game on the line, he led a 92-yard scoring drive in the final 4 minutes to lift the Bluejays to a 15-10 win over Marshfield on Friday night at Beell Stadium.
Trailing 10-8, Merrill took over on its own 8 with 4:28 to go and drove the length of the field in 10 plays for the winning touchdown. Arneson, a University of Wisconsin recruit, had a 25-yard run on 3rd-and-10 from the 50 and completed a key 18-yard pass to Matt Woller on 2nd-and-20 following a sack by Marshfield’s Justin Sternweis.
On the next play, Arneson picked up five yards for the first down on a running play and one play after that he plunged into the end zone for the game-winner. He finished with 93 yards rushing on 18 attempts and threw for 147 yards and a touchdown, accounting for 240 of Merrill’s 320 total yards.
“He’s going D-1 for a reason. He’s a big dude and can throw the football,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said of Arneson. “They got some big ones on us.”
It was a game of missed opportunities for the Tigers. Marshfield recovered a fumble on the 24-yard line after Merrill forced a punt. Marshfield couldn’t get a first down and Sully Luepke missed a 33-yard field goal.
Marshfield did take advantage of Merrill’s next mistake when Arneson was sacked and fumbled. Justin Sternweis recovered at the 21 and on the next play Chris Stemen hit Ian Padron in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown to put the Tigers up 7-0.
Merrill got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when Stemen slipped on the wet turf in his own end zone and fell to a knee for a safety, making it 7-2.
Marshfield put together a drive at the end of the half. Elliot Ashbeck hit Tyler Rollins for a 13-yard pass and Stemen hit Cody Tarnowski for another 13-yard gain to set up a 27-yard field goal by Luepke with 41 seconds left and the Tigers took a 10-2 lead into halftime.
Merrill scored on its first possession of the second half. A 46-yard run up the middle by Austin Voight brought the Bluejays to the 28. After a holding penalty, Arneson hit Jordan Burton for a 34-yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-16. Merrill missed the two-point conversion and Marshfield clung to a 10-8 lead.
The Tigers mounted another drive late in the third quarter but stalled at the 4 and Luepke missed his second field goal attempt on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Neither offense managed to do much for most of the fourth as each team’s hard-hitting defense was on its game.
“I saw running backs of theirs going up in the air and getting slammed down,” Goettl said. “We’re getting whacked. It was a hard-hitting game. Merrill always plays us tough. It was just one of those games. Two towns about the same, a bunch of guys that want to win and work hard.”
A promising Marshfield drive ended due to a holding penalty and Merrill took over on the 8 for what would be the start of its game-winning drive.
Two costly holding penalties cost Marshfield a pair of big plays as it tried to mount its own comeback attempt and following a 33-yard pass from Ashbeck to Dolezal, time expired.
“It’s another learning experience,” Goettl said. “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.”
Marshfield plays at winless Wausau East on Oct. 8 before wrapping up the regular season against undefeated Wisconsin Rapids on Oct. 15. The Tigers need to win both games to automatically qualify for the WIAA playoffs. If they split, the Tigers qualify for a postseason spot, but it is not guaranteed as teams that finish at .500 in conference play are chosen by the WIAA.
Bluejays 15, Tigers 10
Marshfield 7 3 0 0 – 10
Merrill 0 2 6 7 – 15
First quarter
Marsh – Ian Padron 21 pass from Chris Stemen (Sully Luepke kick), 4:26.
Second quarter
Mer – Safety, Stemen downed in end zone, 5:53.
Marsh – Luepke 27 field goal, 0:41.
Third quarter
Mer – Jordan Burton 34 pass from Sam Arneson (pass failed), 7:35.
Fourth quarter
Mer – Arneson 1 run (Alex Cordova kick), 0:53.
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: Merrill 10, Marshfield 9.
Rushing (att-yards): Merrill 35-173, Marshfield 33-74.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Merrill 6-19-174-0, Marshfield 11-24-161.
Penalties: Merrill 7-50, Marshfield 6-45.
Fumbles (total-lost): Merrill 2-2, Marshfield 2-1.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Mer, Sam Arneson 18-93, Austin Voight 9-65, Kyle Kubichek 7-15, Michael Ball 1-0. Marsh, Cody Tarnowski 15-36, Josh Shupe 6-25, Elliot Ashbeck 6-10, Brad Dolezal 4-3, Chris Stemen 2-0.
Passing: Mer, Arneson 6-18-147-0,Kubishek 0-1-0-0. Marsh, Stemen 6-16-64-0, Ashbeck 5-8-97-0.
Receiving: Mer, Jordan Burton 3-92, Matt Woller 2-47, Ball 1-8. Marsh, Dolezal 5-82, Tyler Rollins 3-25, Ian Padron 2-41, Tarnowski 1-13.
Fumble recoveries (defense): Mer, Burton. Marsh, Daniel Stanley, Justin Sternweis.
Records: Merrill 5-1, 2-1 Wisconsin Valley Conference; Marshfield 3-3, 2-2 WVC.