Football: Turnovers doom Cardinals in 2AAAA semis

Oct. 30—MARSHALL — Marshall's formula for success all season: Cause havoc on defense, force turnovers, secure the ball and score enough points to pull out a win.

The Tigers stayed true to their script and sealed a spot in the Section 2AAAA championship game.

Forcing third-seeded Willmar into four turnovers, No. 2 Marshall prevailed in a 24-13 section semifinal win Saturday at Mattke Field at the Schwan Regional Event Center at Southwest Minnesota State University.

"We won that (turnover) battle," said Tigers head coach Terry Bahlmann. "That's how we've played all year."

Starting with the first drive of the game, turnovers haunted Willmar.

The Cardinals got the ball down to the Tigers' 17-yard line when the ball was knocked out of running back Ramero Trevino's grip. Marshall's Jacob Buysse recovered the fumble.

Willmar's second turnover proved more costly.

In the Cardinals' first drive of the second quarter, Tyler Maeyaert intercepted a pass by Cullen Gregory and brought the ball into Willmar territory.

Marshall worked the ball down to the 7-yard line, where Maeyaert, the Tigers' quarterback, ran up the middle and reached over the goal line for a touchdown with 4 minutes, 8 seconds left in the half.

"The bottom line is we turned the ball over four times," said Cardinals head coach Jon Konold. "We moved the ball well on 'em. We got down inside the 20 twice and turned the ball over twice.

"Our problems were self-inflicted."

It was the first of a two-touchdown day for Maeyaert. He also threw a 34-yard TD to Chidi Nwakama in the third quarter. The senior signal-caller threw for 190 yards on 11 of 18 passing, also running for 11 yards.

After the Cardinals put pressure on early, Maeyaert used his legs to buy time for his receivers and convert first downs.

"We just wanted to give our guys a chance to make plays," Maeyaert said. "We had some playmakers that can make some big plays and that's what they did."

Konold said of Maeyaert, "He was the difference in the game for them offensively."

Willmar put in a score late in the first half with Trevino running down the Cardinals' sideline for a 24-yard score. The extra-point attempt by Ezra May was blocked.

With a second left before halftime, Marshall kicker Ethan Hess booted a 32-yard field goal to put the Tigers up 10-6 at the break.

"We felt pretty confident that we could make a few adjustments, come back and make a push on 'em," said Willmar senior wide receiver/defensive back Sam Raitz. "We didn't play the best in the first half, but we thought we could fix things."

Marshall's biggest gaffes came on the first drive of the second half. Two penalties — for holding and a chop block — led to the Tigers having to punt. The snap was mishandled by punter Jackson Baynard and he was brought down at Marshall's 18-yard line.

On Willmar's first play, Gregory chucked the ball into the back corner of the end zone into the waiting hands of Raitz for the touchdown. May got the point-after, putting the Cardinals ahead 13-10.

"It was a great way to start off the half," Raitz said.

Gregory completed 10 of 14 passes for 159 yards. Raitz had three grabs for 55 yards. Jacob Streed finished with four catches for 82 yards.

"You could feel the momentum swinging a little bit after we got that tackle on the punt," Konold said.

"Then we allowed them to go down the field and score after that."

Before the end of the third, the Tigers retook the lead on Maeyaert's pass to Nwakama.

In the fourth, Nwakama took the bulk of the carries as the Tigers tried to kill time on the clock. He finished with 125 yards on 19 carries, including a four-yard TD with 2:12 left to ice the game.

"We had to calm the guys down, but that's not the first time we've been in that situation," Maeyaert said about coming back from the second-half deficit. "We were prepared and we were ready to go. Backs against the way, we came to execute."

Any chance for Willmar to come back came to a swift end after fourth-quarter interceptions by Omar Abdi and Buysse.

With the win, Marshall faces top-seeded Hutchinson for the 2AAAA championship at 7 p.m. Friday at Hutchinson. Hutch advanced on Saturday following a 52-7 win over fourth-seeded Jordan.

"They didn't panic at all," Bahlmann said. "This team is based on playing hard together. Maybe there's no superstar-type kids, but they just play hard together and like to play football. And our defense runs to the football."

The Cardinals close out the season with a 6-4 record and graduate 15 seniors.

"We were really close the whole year and felt like a really tight family," said Raitz, one of Willmar's captains. "I'm really proud of how the younger kids stepped up. I'm proud of everyone."

Willmar (6-4) 0 6 7 0 — 13

Marshall (9-0) 0 10 7 7 — 24

Scoring Plays

M — Tyler Maeyaert 7 run (Ethan Hess kick)

W — Ramero Trevino 24 run (kick blocked)

M — Hess 32 field goal

W — Sam Raitz 18 pass from Cullen Gregory (Ezra May kick)

M — Chidi Nwakama 34 pass from Maeyaert (Hess kick)

M — Nwakama 4 run (Hess kick)

Willmar

First downs: 10 ... Penalties: 2-10 ... Rushing (Individual and team): Ramero Trevino 16-77, Cullen Gregory 8-7. Total: 24-84 ... Passing (Individual and team): Gregory 10-14-3 159 ... Receiving: Trevino 2-14, Tyler Evans 1-8, Jacob Streed 4-82, Sam Raitz 3-55 ... Interceptions: none ... Fumble recoveries: none ... Tackles (solo-assist): Mattix Swanson 5-4, Steven Cruze 4-4, Jacob Flannigan 3-0 ... QB sacks: Flannigan 1, Marlon Fernandez-Munoz 1

Marshall

First downs: 17 ... Penalties: 6-55 ... Rushing (Individual and team): Tyler Maeyaert 5-11, Malachi Klemm 5-25, Chidi Nwakama 19-125, Mason Eickhoff 4-(-3), Dylan Louwagie 1-1, Coby Brownlee 9-27. Total: 43-186 ... Passing (Individual and team): Maeyaert 11-18-0 190 ... Receiving: Omar Abdi 2-55, Salman Osman 2-19, Nwakama 4-57, Andrew Wallen 1-17, Dawson Chappuis 1-15, Jett Wing 1-27 ... Interceptions: Maeyaert 1, Abdi 1, Jacob Buysse 1 ... Fumble recoveries: Buysse 1 ... Tackles (solo-assist): n/a ... QB sacks: n/a