Marshfield, Foemmel deliver big, Tigers down Warriors in thriller
· Yahoo Sports
WAUSAU – Wausau West kept finding ways to stay alive Friday night. Marshfield kept finding ways to slam the door.
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The Warriors erased a 14-point deficit, recovered a fumble with about seven minutes remaining and drove into position for a potential game-tying score. But Marshfield's defense forced a three-and-out, then survived one final West possession when a late fumble ended the Warriors' last chance as time expired.
The Tigers downed the Warriors 26-21 to hand the Warriors their second consecutive loss and improve their record to 5-1, with a 3-1 conference standing.
“Dude. I don't know. I was screaming in my own head,” Marshfield coach Dennis Goettl said about his state of mind during the final play. “We let them get onto the 5-yard line, which is, whatever. Bend, don't break. Kids make mistakes. Who cares? We got to come through. We got to fight until the end. They did. They put it on their plate.
“I hoped we would play the same way. I hoped the kids would respond the same way. And they did. We had them (earlier in the game) 4th and 17, and they get a 17 and a half yard catch here, which is like how you do that. You can't script that at all.”
Warriors charge late
Wausau West’s defense, despite allowing Marshfield’s’ aerial offense to flow throughout the night, offered the offense multiple opportunities late.
After Marshfield sophomore quarterback Ethan Foemmel tossed his fourth touchdown of the evening, finding senior Camden Kolstad to put the Tigers ahead 26-14 with just under seven in a half minutes left in the third, the Tigers did not score again.
Then when Marshfield pounded the ball down Thom Field into Warriors territory as time ticked away, it looked as though the Tigers would cruise away with a victory.
That’s when Thom Field was sent to its feet when the Warriors recovered a fumble on what would have been a second chunk run of the drive.
Thrilled was an understatement for how Goettl felt about escaping Thom Field with a victory, and what it could mean for the Tigers down the stretch of the season.
“They just made a great play. This is a great football team,” Goettl said about the Warriors. “And that number 8 (Miles Waldvogel) is a crazy great kid and great player.”
“We're just on the motto of, you know, tough teams win. We're trying to get that back in Marshfield football. We have to be tough to win football games, and we got one. I mean, we've been scoring some points, which is great, and now we're stopping kids and teams at that last second. We're just excited about the way kids are playing.”
Tigers future shines bright
At the middle of the season, the Tigers are in a fighting position for the Wisconsin Valley Conference championship with Steven Point (3-0 conference) upcoming on Friday, Oct. 9. And the Tigers have done so, without the league’s offensive player of the year last season, senior running back Haiden Carslon.
Carlson has missed the last four games and Goettl said he’s on his way back. But in the meantime, the Tigers are rolling with the punches and their younger group matched the intensity they look for.
“They showed up,” Goettl said. “Like I said, we came here to out hit them and outplay them, and that was the message all week.”
Goettl learned a lot about his team Friday night. When Marshfield fumbled late, it offered one the defining lessons of the season thus far – and this time, it was one not hard-learned.
“We saw their faces go down, you know, you saw the kids' energy drop,” Goettl said about the Tigers 4th quarter fumble. “And the only thing you can do as a coach is just try to lift them up. Like get up. We got four minutes left. Then they came down and the barrage of plays they had … again they rose to the occasion and they did it.
"I mean, people are looking out for us from up top. But we're playing for it and playing together, and it's a good thing.”
Central Wisconsin Week 6 high school football scoreboard:
De Soto 50, Rosholt 6
Gilman 44, Assumption 6
Athens 26, Alma Center Lincoln 24
Stanley-Boyd 33, Auburndale 14
Stratford 31, Colby 25
Newman Catholic 47, Cornell 38
SPASH 42, Eau Claire North 21
Edgar 22, Loyal/Greenwood 0
Hudson 43, D.C. Everest 19
Port Edwards 32, Marion/Tigerton 20
Mauston 47, Adams-Friendship 12
Medford 37, Lakeland 0
Wausau East 19, Mosinee 0
Mondovi 42, Neillsville/Granton 12
Nekoosa 42, Waupun 15
Pacelli 42, Pittsville 8
Tomahawk 28, Rhinelander 14
Merrill 32, Antigo 27
Shiocton 21, Wittenberg-Birnamwood 6
Amherst 35, Spencer/Columbus 6
Owen-Withee 38, Thorp 26
Weyauwega-Fremont 24, Marathon 6
Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln 39, Eau Claire Memorial 25
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Reporter Alfred Smith III at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @AlfredS_III.
This article originally appeared on Marshfield News-Herald: Marshfield, Foemmel deliver big, Tigers down Warriors in thriller