By Paul Lecker
For Focusonmarshfield.com
MARSHFIELD – The final regular season varsity football game at historic Beell Stadium was a one-sided one thanks to a big flurry by Marshfield to open the second half.
Leading by two touchdowns at halftime, Marshfield scored three times in the first 3:14 of the third quarter and went on to roll past D.C. Everest 49-14 in a Valley Football Association West Division matchup on Friday night.
Marshfield, which already had clinched its second-straight VFA West title, improves to 8-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference, and also eliminates D.C. Everest from playoff contention as the Evergreens fall to 2-6 overall and 2-5 in conference play.
While the Tigers will almost certainly host at least one WIAA playoff game later this month, the school and community celebrated the 77-year history of the stadium named after slain Marshfield police officer Fred Beell, who died in the line of duty in 1933.
The stadium, which opened in 1941, will still be used by Marshfield Middle School football in the future and in the final varsity regular-season game there, the Tigers put on an air show.
Senior quarterback Ryan Krueger threw for five touchdowns, including two in the opening of the minutes of the second half to turn a 21-7 lead into a 42-7 rout in less than 200 seconds of game time.
“You play in the rain and it’s advantage to the offense in the passing game,” Marshfield coach Denny Goettl said. “The defensive backs have trouble getting their football and the offensive guys know where they’re going. You’ve got to keep working on things that you are going to need on down the line.
“We’re still turning the football over (four lost fumbles) and I don’t know if I’m going to have to start running guys after practice, but it’s getting a little bit ridiculous. But we’ll keep working on those things.”
After missing a field goal on its first possession, Marshfield scored touchdowns on its next three to open up a 21-7 advantage.
Krueger had touchdown passes of 24 yards to Caden Pearce, 43 yards to Preston Wagner, and 58 yards to Brant Bohman and the Tigers were up two touchdowns early in the second quarter.
A muffed punt and another lost fumble allowed D.C. Everest to possess the ball for all of one play over the next 6:41, but the Tigers’ defense held on a fourth down and goal at the 4, and the half ended with Marshfield up 21-7.
Then the fireworks began.
Pearce returned the opening kickoff of the second half 77 yards for a touchdown, making it 28-7.
Ben Gust picked off a D.C. Everest pass on the Evergreens’ first play, and on the next play, Krueger connected with Isaac Meverden for a 42-yard touchdown pass.
Jackson Ott interception a pass on the Evergreens’ fourth play of their next drive, and this time it took three plays before Krueger threw deep down the right sideline for a 45-yard touchdown to Wagner, making it 42-7 with 8:46 to go in the third quarter.
Krueger’s five touchdown passes ties a school record for most in a game. Derek Coffren set the mark in 2014. Krueger finished 10 of 14 for 264 yards through the air.
Another Marshfield fumble allowed Everest an easy touchdown late in the third quarter before the Tigers capped the scoring as backup quarterback Will Voss threw 12 yards to Brandon Berg for another passing touchdown.
“It goes to be said that defense wins championships and they’re going to stop them, but the offense needs to do what they need to do to grab a few points here and there,” Goettl said. “We popped up close to 50 tonight. We played well again.”
Goettl said every game at Beell Stadium builds on the memories already made, during his two-plus decades coaching and from the players and teams before.
“You go back and reminisce about a lot of stuff,” Goettl said. “One of the favorite times I’ve had in my life was in 1997 in that (the South) end zone when Travis Yokimcus scored to beat these guys (D.C. Everest) and it was the start of a lot of stuff for this program.
“My mom says it, ‘Dennis, all we have is memories of everything that we do,’ and I keep that in my back pocket all the time. Every time a play goes off, it’s another memory; seeing two brothers play again together tonight, it’s another memory; watching your own sons play on this field – those are things that go through my head all the time.”
Marshfield will close out its regular-season schedule at Wausau West on Oct. 12. The WIAA playoff field and matchups will be announced on Oct. 13.
Tigers 49, Evergreens 14
D.C. Everest 7 0 7 0 – 14
Marshfield 7 14 21 7 – 49
First Quarter
M – Caden Pearce 24 pass from Ryan Krueger (Mason Coffren kick), 3:44.
DC – Bryan Halambeck 17 pass from Ethan Ostrowski (Bryce Morris kick), 0:00.
Second Quarter
M – Preston Wagner 43 pass from Krueger (Coffren kick), 10:02.
M – Brant Bohman 58 pass from Krueger (Coffren kick), 8:11.
Third Quarter
M – Pearce 77 kick return (Coffren kick), 11:46.
M – Isaac Meverden 42 pass from Krueger (Coffren kick), 11:22.
M – Wagner 45 pass from Krueger (Coffren kick), 8:46.
DC – Derek Mesunas 3 run (Morris kick), 0:29.
Fourth Quarter
M – Brandon Berg 12 pass from Will Voss (Coffren kick), 10:58.
Team Statistics
First downs: D.C. Everest 7; Marshfield 11.
Rushing (att-yards): DC 35-69; M 27-139.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): DC 4-19-75-3; M 11-18-276-0.
Total yards: DC 144; M 415.
Penalties (no.-yards): DC 9-90; M 7-63.
Fumbles (total-lost): DC 2-0; M 4-4.
Punting (no.-avg.): DC 5-33.4; M none.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: DC, Nick Moe 6-34, Derek Mesunas 7023, Chris Tilton 3-12, Jager Reissmann 11-3, Jac Landry 3-3, Ty Strehlow 1-0, Ethan Ostrowski 1-0, Josh Bydynkowski 3-minus 4. M, Malachi Fyksen 4-54, Brant Bohman 5-28, Isaiah Baierl 7-21, Sam Hinson 2-13, Caden Pearce 2-13, Noah Schaefer 3-10, Ryan Krueger 1-1, Simon Baity 3-minus 1.
Passing: DC, Bydynkowski 3-15-58-3, Ostrowski 1-1-17-0, Strehlow 0-1-0-0, Reissmann 0-2-0-0. M, Krueger 10-14-26-4-0, Will Voss 1-4-12-0.
Receiving: DC, Bryan Halambeck 3-48, Tilton 1-27. M, Preston Wagner 2-88, Bohman 2-69, Isaac Meverden 2-59, Joey Goettl 2-10, Pearce 1-24, Baierl 1-14, Brandon Berg 1-12.
Fumble recoveries (defense): DC, Zach Anderson, Reece Ostrowski, Andy Consolver, No. 71 (name not on roster).
Interceptions (defense): M, Ben Gust, Jackson Ott, Nolan Hertel.
Punting: DC, Kaleb Brehm 5-33.4.
Records: D.C. Everest 2-6, 2-5 Valley Football Association West Division; Marshfield 8-0, 7-0 VFA West.
Paul Lecker is publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com and a contributor to focusonmarshfield.com
Author: News Desk
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